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STDs
The Buffalo Area Rapid Assessment, Response and Evaluation (RARE)
Eliminating health disparities is an overriding goal promoted by Healthy People 20101. Buffalo and Erie County, like most of the United States, has seen a disproportionate increase in many health conditions in minority populations. HIV and AIDS are no exception. Beginning at the state level, in New York, African-Americans and Latinos made up 32% of the general population in 1997 yet they made up 80% of people living with HIV and AIDS. In 2001, a study completed in Western New York indicated that Latinos and African Americans made up less than 12% of the population but accounted for 77% of people living with HIV and AIDS.
As a response to this disproportionate burden, officials at the Erie County Health Department notified Mayor Anthony Masiello, the chief executive of the City of Buffalo, of a project called Rapid Assessment, Response and Evaluation (RARE). The RARE project is sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Secretary, Office of Public Health and Science. The purpose of RARE is to examine HIV and AIDS in disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minority communities. On September 6, 2002, Mayor Masiello responded to the Department of Health and Human Services and requested funding for the City of Buffalo to conduct a RARE project in Buffalo, NY. Funding was granted to conduct the research. The City of Buffalo, the Erie County Department of Health, community members and community organizations and agencies worked together and made it happen.
The content of the RARE report discusses the findings of these research methodologies. Findings were relatively consistent at both sites that were chosen in Buffalo, New York. Recommendations are presented and action steps are provided to address the issues that surfaced during the research.
To view the Rapid Assessment Response and Evaluation (RARE) report click on the link below:
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