ASHA loses CDC contract for AIDS and STD hotlines

American Social Health Association, a nonprofit organization based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., on Monday lost a bid for a contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for its largest program, which includes national AIDS and sexually transmitted disease information hotlines, The [Durham] Herald-Sun reports. The hotlines logged about 700,000 calls last year from people asking for information about HIV and STD prevention, testing, and treatment. ASHA president and CEO John Allen says the loss of CDC funds will force the organization to shut down the hotlines, which have run since the mid 1980s, in three months. ASHA also will be forced to reduce its number of employees; currently about 150 of the organization's 250 employees work in the hotline call center. The company reportedly lost bidding for the contracts to for-profit company Pearson Government Solutions. It's unclear when that company will launch comparable HIV and STD hotlines.