Federal HIV/AIDS funds in Boston need to be restructured to more evenly cover a variety of health services, officials from the Boston Eligible Metropolitan Area HIV Service Planning Council said on Thursday.
Boston is one of the most eligible cities in the country for funds from the national Ryan White CARE Act, but the council said that past allocations for health, housing, mental health and transportation services weren’t most effectively serving HIV-positive people in the city.
Previously, 75 percent of Ryan White funding was designated for medical care for AIDS or HIV sufferers within the Boston EMA. Because the remaining 25 percent was not enough to cover support services such as housing, mental health and transportation, the council was able to reduce the percent allocated for health services to 55 percent, thus increasing funds set aside for supplemental services from 25 to 45 percent this past year.
At the council’s meeting yesterday, members called for a continued focus on the proper division of federal grants in the upcoming year.
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