Michigan Awards Nearly $2.5M For HIV Prevention
LANSING (WWJ) - Over a dozen organizations are receiving money from Michigan's Health Department for HIV prevention services.
Nearly $2.5 million is being awarded to 16 community-based and non-governmental groups for things such as testing, education, treatment, and counseling.
Angela Minicuci with the Michigan Department of Community Health says HIV is still a problem in many areas.
"Specifically it disproportionately affects African-Americans --particularly young adults - and men who have sex with men. And within those communities, yes, HIV is definitely high prevalence," Minicuci told WWJ Newsradio 950's Zahra Huber. "It might not be that you hear as much about it anymore, because there is so much treatment and management that's available."
Minicuci said, ultimately, they'd like to see HIV numbers decline overall.
"But really, more importantly with this, we want to see the disproportionate numbers go down," Minicuci added. "We know that there are certain communities where HIV/AIDS prevalence is much higher. So we want to make sure we providing treatment and management options, specifically in those areas."
The money is being awarded through 2016 to organizations in Detroit, Kalamazoo, Dearborn, Ypsilanti, Saginaw, Lansing, Ferndale, Grand Rapids, Muskegon and Flint.
