ViiV Healthcare today announced it will award seven grants to organizations across the Southern U.S., a community disproportionately impacted by HIV, as part of its Positive Action Southern Initiative. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2013, the Southern region of the U.S. accounted for more HIV diagnoses than all other U.S. regions combined.ⁱ Positive Action Southern Initiative grants support organizations filling critical gaps in services and working to enhance or improve existing programs that serve marginalized or minority populations in the Southern U.S. Grant awardees are from seven organizations across Texas, Tennessee, Florida and North Carolina.

This Initiative is aligned with the White House’s “National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States: Updated to 2020,” which prioritizes directing resources to areas and populations that have the greatest need. Engaging and empowering people living with HIV in the Southern region of the U.S. is the primary purpose of the Positive Action Southern Initiative. 

“For the past five years, the Positive Action Southern Initiative has focused on awarding grants to community-based organizations in the Southern states — an area of our country disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS,” said Michael N. Joyner, director of Positive Action and patient advocacy. “Our ongoing commitment to these groups and the communities they serve illustrates our deep and ongoing dedication to helping people in the South affected by the virus.”

The following organizations will receive up to $50,000 per year for the next two years:

• Abounding Prosperity, Inc.: Project BEST (Brothers Excelling Successfully Together) (Dallas, TX)

• Friends for Life: The Haven Peer Navigator Program (Memphis, TN)

• Jacksonville Area Sexual Minority Youth Network, Inc. (JASMYN): The Safety Net Program Enhancement Project (Jacksonville, FL)

• Nashville CARES: The IAMSTRONG Program Enhancement (Nashville, TN)

• RAIN, Inc.: The Client Services Department Project (Charlotte, NC)

• Rural Women’s Health Project:  Let’s Talk About It (LTAI) Certified Peer Advocate Outreach Program (Gainesville, FL)

• WellFlorida Council, Inc.: The High Impact Prevention Program (Gainesville, FL)

According to Ernest Hopkins, a member of the Positive Action Southern Initiative review committee, “This group of grantees represents some of the most innovative, effective programming in the South. Many of them are utilizing peer-based networks to discuss very important and timely topics such as mental health, linkages to care and ways to improve the adherence of their clients. Recipients will also have the opportunity to join the Southern Initiative Network, which creates a platform to share lessons learned and best practices with other community leaders.”  

The Positive Action Southern Initiative now operates in 10 Southern states, with the goal of reducing disparities among black and Latino populations disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. Since its inception, the Positive Action Southern Initiative has grown into a network of nearly 30 organizations throughout the South with programs and partnerships that help link and retain underserved and high-risk individuals in care.

The Positive Action Southern Initiative is a U.S.-focused project of ViiV Healthcare’s broader Positive Action Programme, which supports local communities impacted by HIV/AIDS globally. ViiV Healthcare is committed to building on the success of the global programme with efforts to support projects in the U.S. that address areas of greatest need.

About ViiV Healthcare's Positive Action Programme
Positive Action was created in 1992 as the first pharmaceutical company programme to support communities affected by HIV and AIDS. ViiV Healthcare is proud to continue the Positive Action programme and its valuable work with these communities. Positive Action works with those communities most vulnerable to HIV disease, including youth, girls and women, sex workers, gay men, men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender people, injecting drug users (IDU), the homeless and the incarcerated. Our projects range across education, prevention, care and treatment-related activity such as treatment literacy and community/clinical engagement.

For more information about Positive Action, please visit: http://www.viivhealthcare.com/community-partnerships/the-viiv-healthcare-effect.aspx.

About ViiV Healthcare  
ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established in November 2009 by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV. Shionogi joined in October 2012. The company’s aim is to take a deeper and broader interest in HIV/AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach to deliver effective and new HIV medicines as well as support communities affected by HIV. For more information on the company, its management, portfolio, pipeline and commitment, please visit www.viivhealthcare.com.

ViiV Healthcare

ViiV Healthcare

ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established in November 2009 by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV and for people who are at risk of becoming infected with HIV. Shionogi joined in October 2012. The company's aim is to take a deeper and broader interest in HIV/AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach to deliver effective and innovative medicines for HIV treatment and prevention, as well as support communities affected by HIV.

For more information on the company, its management, portfolio, pipeline and commitment, please visit www.viivhealthcare.com.

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