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"These grants will help us develop and mobilize a comprehensive response to the growing HIV/AIDS crisis in this part of the country where health care is limited by poverty, lack of education and isolation," said Secretary Shalala. "We expect these grants to support more innovative and effective ways to deliver HIV/AIDS care to border communities."

First year grants from HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration go to Camino de Vida Center for HIV Services, Las Cruces, N.M.; Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe, Inc., El Paso, Texas; El Rio Santa Cruz Neighborhood Center, Tucson, Ariz.; San Ysidro Health Center, Inc., San Ysidro, Calif.; and Valley AIDS Council, Harlingen, Texas. The evaluation center for the five projects is at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

The grants are funded through programs managed by HRSA's HIV/AIDS Bureau and the Bureau of Primary Health Care. HAB administers the CARE Act, which provides primary care and support services for low-income, uninsured and underinsured individuals and families affected by HIV/AIDS. CARE Act support includes $1.9 million in core funding from the Special Projects of National Significance program, which demonstrates and evaluates innovative models of HIV/AIDS care and delivery. Another $550,000 comes from the CARE Act's Title III program, which supports early access to primary health care services to prevent the further spread of HIV/AIDS, delay the onset of illness, facilitate access to care, and provide psychological and social support to people with HIV/AIDS.

Some $500,000 from the BPHC community and migrant health centers programs is going to the five sites to help border region health centers deliver comprehensive primary care services to people with HIV/AIDS. These centers provide access to family-oriented preventive and primary health care services for people living in rural and urban medically underserved communities.

"This initiative is an excellent example of how HRSA's programs work together to strengthen our ability to deliver care," said HRSA Administrator Claude Earl Fox, M.D., M.P.H. "Access to quality HIV/AIDS care is a HRSA priority, especially among low-income and medically underserved families and individuals."

Today's grants support HRSA's larger U.S.-Mexico Border Health Program, which serves communities from San Ysidro, Calif., to Brownsville, Texas. More than one-third of families in this area live at or below the poverty line, and the unemployment rate is 250-300 percent higher than the rest of the United States. Health care access is a challenge without enough doctors, other health professionals, hospitals, and bilingual health providers and information in the border area.

HRSA is the lead HHS agency for improving access to health care for individuals and families nationwide. Since fiscal year 1991, the CARE Act has received congressional appropriations totaling $7.95 billion, which serves approximately 500,000 people every year. Congress appropriated more than $5 billion since fiscal year 1995 for HRSA-supported health centers, which provide primary health care services to some 9 million people annually.

The grantee list is below.

HRSA Border Health HIV/AIDS Grants

Camino de Vida Center for HIV Services, Las Cruces, N.M. $440,063
Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe, Inc., El Paso, Texas $500,000
El Rio Santa Cruz Neighborhood Center, Tucson, Ariz. $467,825
San Ysidro Health Center, Inc., San Ysidro, Calif. $650,000
Valley AIDS Council, Harlingen, Texas $500,000

Evaluation Center

University of Oklahoma, Norman $400,000

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