The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the release of nearly $1.8 billion through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program to help individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

Currently, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program supports more than 529,000 people per year through funding to states and community organizations. While the primary focus is to provide immediate care and services, the program also supports research to improve care for patients. To facilitate grant allocation, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program is divided into three sections.

In the most recent HHS grant, the majority of funding, over $1.16 billion, will be given to Part B, which focuses on states and territories in need of services. Of this, $780 million will be given to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), a set of programs that provide FDA approved HIV treatment drugs to low income patients.

Part A, which focuses on distribution of services to severely hit metropolitan areas, will receive $590 million. The remaining $49 million will be given to Part C, which focuses on early intervention services for individuals being treated with AIDS. Part C grants go to community-based organizations that provide care and services for individuals who are unable to cover the cost of treatment and services.

In total, 75 percent of the $1.8 billion focuses on medical services such as outpatient health services, drug assistance, and health insurance payments. The remaining 25 percent supports services that provide patients with care to help adjust and live with the disease. These include respite care, medical transportation and linguistic services.

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS program was established in 1996 in honor of Ryan White, an Indiana teenager who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion in the 1980s. White fought discrimination and educated people about the disease through a national publicity tour before his death in 1990 at the age of 18. The purpose of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program is to help individuals with HIV/AIDS and provide health services in communities where there is insufficient health care coverage or resources. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency within HHS, oversees the program.

For more information about the HHS grant, including funding awards, see the press release at the Health and Human Services Web site.