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Staff:
Joanna Short, Program Analyst
Mary Bowers, Public Health Advisor
Dalana Johnson, Service Fellow
Frances E. Asshe-Goins, Director-Division of Policy and Program Development
Women represent a growing number of individuals living with AIDS in the United States. In 2000, women accounted for 25 percent of all AIDS cases reported. Women of color are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. African American women represented 63 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases reported among women in 2000, while Latinas accounted for 19 percent of new AIDS cases.1 Consequently, HIV/AIDS continues to be one of the leading causes of death for women aged 25-44. In 1999, HIV/AIDS was the third leading cause of death for African American women aged 25-44.2
Office on Women's Health (OWH)
OWH's mission (www.4woman.gov) is to improve the health and well-being of women across the lifespan by coordinating women's health programs, promoting health education and disease prevention, and leading efforts and fostering partnerships to eliminate health disparities. To that end, OWH has developed the following programs to address HIV/AIDS as a national health priority.
OWH Collaborative Group on Women and HIV/AIDS
Formed in 1997, the OWH Collaborative Group on Women and HIV/AIDS is a broad cross-section of HIV/AIDS service providers in public, private, and nonprofit sectors and consumers. This group meets annually to explore issues critical to women infected and impacted by HIV/AIDS, and to propose potential collaborations and partnerships to address the ongoing epidemic of HIV/AIDS in the lives of American women. The work of the Collaborative Group focuses on prevention and education, care and treatment, young women, and research.
OWH HIV/AIDS Programs
OWH funds the following:
HIV/AIDS and Women in the Rural South Program - this program funds
demonstration projects for women-based organizations to provide HIV/AIDS prevention
education services to women living in the rural South. In FY2002, this program awarded
three programs.
Columbus Wellness Center (Columbus, GA)
HEROES (Columbia, LA)
South Carolina African American HIV/AIDS Coalition (Columbia, SC)
HIV/AIDS and Young Women Pilot Program - this program is a national HIV/AIDS/STDs and violence prevention education program targeted at minority women ages 18-25 years to increase HIV and violence prevention knowledge and reduce the risk of contracting HIV. To initiate this program in FY 2002, OWH has collaborated with the National Black Women's Health Project, Inc., Washington, DC www.nbwhp.org
Evaluation of OWH Women and HIV/AIDS Programs
REDA International, Inc. (Wheaton, MD)
OWH received funding from the Minority AIDS Initiative to develop the following two demonstration projects to address persistent gaps in the HIV/AIDS health care needs and services for women:
The Model Mentorship Program for Strengthening Organizational Capacity Program funds demonstration projects for mentorship between minority health organizations and women's organizations and/or community based organizations delivering HIV/AIDS services, particularly to minority women. Both mentoring partners receive funding. Programmatic, administrative, fiscal, and technical assistance is provided to expand organizational capacity for improved delivery of HIV/AIDS services. Through mentoring, small organizations become better prepared to operate their agencies and implement successful HIV/AIDS programs independently. In FY 2002, this program awarded nine programs.
Mentors:
Los Angeles Shanti Foundation (Los Angeles, CA)
Center for Health Policy Development (San Antonio,TX)
Institute for Successful Leadership (Orlando, FL)
Mentees:
New Visions Community Development Corporation (Darlington, SC)
Pathway Behavioral Health Services (Miami, FL)
Women's Resource Center (Columbia, SC)
Mujeres Unidas (San Antonio, TX)
The Incarcerated and Newly Released Women with HIV/AIDS/STDs Program
funds demonstration projects to build a continuum of healthcare and suport services
provided for incarcerated and newly-released minority women living with HIV/AIDS/STDs. In
FY 2002, this program awarded three programs.
The Empowerment Program (Denver, CO)
Blacks Assisting Blacks Against AIDS (St. Louis, MO)
Action for Boston Community Development Corporation (Boston, MA)
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, Division of HIV/AIDS website]. 2002. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts/women.htm
2. National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2002 With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2002. Publication No. 1232.
Last Updated April, 2003