HHS awards $33.9 million for HIV, substance abuse services

The Department of Health and Human Services last week announced 72 grants totaling $33.9 million for programs providing HIV/AIDS services and substance abuse treatment for minority communities throughout the country. About $12 million will go to fund programs in urban areas not served by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's HIV and substance abuse outreach programs. The remaining funds will target programs in areas with particularly high HIV infection rates. "We know that minority communities are disproportionately suffering from the interrelationship between injection-drug use and HIV," said SAMHSA administrator Charles Curie in an agency press release. "If we can reach drug users early enough, we may be able to prevent the scourge of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases that are running rampant in many communities of color."