The National AIDS Fund (NAF) announced today plans to provide grants and assistance to organizations in nine Southern U.S. states in order to aid them in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the region.
Through the initiative, “Southern Reach,” the NAF will award 20-30 grants, averaging about $45,000 each to organizations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The program is supported by the Ford Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, eight of the top 10 states in the country with the highest percentage of African Americans who have AIDS, and six of the top 10 with the highest percent of women who have AIDS, are in the South.
“HIV/AIDS is more than a disease—it is a symptom of the larger problems of social inequalities and racial/ethnic health disparities,” said Kandy Ferree, National AIDS Fund president and CEO. “Nowhere are such issues more prevalent in the U.S. than in the South.”
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
