HHS Announces More Than $68 Million in Funding for Women and Children With HIV

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced today through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) more than $68 million in Ryan White HIV/AIDS funding to provide care for women and children with HIV.

This announcement was made at the latest HRSA meeting held at Morgan State University in Baltimore where community leaders, state and local health officials and grant recipients gathered to discuss maternal health mortality and disparities.

This funding will also advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which aims to call attention to the important of reducing HIV infections in the United States 90% by 2030.

Today’s event marks the latest meeting in the year-long Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative program. Previous gatherings have taken place in Raleigh, North Carolina, Atlanta and Flagstaff, Arizona, to name a few.

According to the press release, the Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative program aims to:

• Achieve measurable progress in maximizing the impact of HRSA grants and programs to address maternal mortality and improve maternal health,
• Foster new partnerships and collaborations among HRSA grantees in high-need, high-opportunity jurisdictions to address maternal mortality and improve maternal health, and
• Strengthen HRSA’s internal capacity to maximize the impact of HRSA’s maternal health grants, programs, and resources.

HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program provides care for more than 560,000 low-income people with HIV, accounting for almost half of all HIV-positive people in the United States. In 2022, more than 142,000 women received assistance and 89.9% of those women reached viral suppression, which means they are unable to transmit the disease.

Women, especially Black women are disproportionately affected by HIV. In 2019, 54% of the women with HIV were Black.

“We know that many women with HIV continue to face barriers accessing HIV care and treatment, including stigma and lack of social support,” HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson said in a news release. “Through this funding, community-based organizations across the country will deliver lifesaving, culturally responsive HIV care to help women with HIV access the health care they need and live long, healthy lives.”