The Rural Center
for AIDS/STD Prevention at Indiana University will
receive a five-year, $1.2 million grant from the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to further
its research.
The center, which
claims to be the only one in the nation focused on
preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases in
rural areas, started in 1994 as a partnership with the
University of Colorado and Purdue University. As of
this month, it became a joint project with the
University of Colorado and the University of
Kentucky.
The universities conduct research and
develop fact sheets on HIV and STD prevention in rural
areas. In addition, the center sponsors conferences every
other year, with the next one scheduled for April
2007.
According to Bill
Yarber, the center's senior director, around 8% of
Americans diagnosed with HIV live in rural areas, up from 5%
a decade ago. Most HIV prevention materials are
targeted toward urban residents, he says, and
HIV-positive people in rural areas need information
specifically tailored to their communities. "The rural
communities have a uniqueness," he notes. "They don't
have adequate health care, they don't have adequate
support."
"I think [the CDC grant] illustrates
that they recognize how important efforts to reduce AIDS in
rural communities are," says Yarber. (AP)