The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a condition that destroys CD4 cells of the body and leads the count to be less than 200, which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. A weak immune system hampers the body’s capacity to fight against sickness. Nearly 1.2 million adults in the United States have tested positive for HIV (Ojikutu et al., 2018). There are around 37.7 million HIV-positive individuals around the globe. There is no cure for HIV, and many infected individuals are at risk of being infected and do not have easy access to treatment options. Gay men, drug users, prostitutes, and blood transfusion patients are at high risk of acquiring HIV. HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care, particularly for opportunistic infections, have improved over the years, allowing people with HIV to live long, healthy lives despite the lack of a cure.
Health disparities are variations in health that are unavoidable, unfair, and systematic across distinct groups of persons. HIV patients experience health disparities as they are experienced in other areas of the health sector. Health inequalities may be caused by various things, including our socioeconomic status, where we live and work, and our gender and ethnicity (Nuru-Jeter et al., 2018). One method of addressing health inequalities is implementing public health programs.
A public health intervention is a coordinated effort to support certain habits and practices that promote greater physical, mental, and emotional well-being in the general population. Public health aims to keep the general population healthy and well-lived by preventing disease, improving health, and extending life expectancy (Rodriguez et al., 2020). As a result, public health programs provide the conditions necessary for particular groups to be healthy. The initiative that I am interested in is an HIV/AIDS Program in Prince George’s County, MD.
The Public Health Initiative’s Purpose
HIV/AIDS Program in Prince George’s County, MD, will be to better service the HIV patients, and the initiative’s primary purpose is to enhance outcomes by identifying and treating the disease early. Women’s clinics, dental clinics, substance addiction clinics, and mental health services are just some of the services available to individuals who have been affected. In addition, the program will be interested in helping people who have HIV get treatment, so they do not spread the disease. The program will boost access to pre-exposure prophylaxis and educating people about condom usage are just some of the ways these efforts are being implemented.
The program will offer ARV therapy, retention intervention, adherence interventions, STD screening, and treatment. Consequently, partner services, behavioral risk reduction interventions, and screening of patients for behavioral and social assistance requirements will be involved (O’Connor et al., 2021). The program aims to improve local community services with a wide range of support services is one way the project fosters a community-based approach. In addition, the program will teach the community to help people living with HIV with their emotional, educational, nutritional, health, and safety requirements and their financial well-being.
Everyone in Prince George’s County, MD will be served by the program regardless of their background or sexual orientation. The program will improve community capacity to identify needs and design and implement HIV/AIDS support programs, care, and prevention for the individuals living with HIV/AIDS and other at-risk populations. Additionally, the program will strengthen local organizations’ ability for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and support services administration.
A Description of the Funding Sources Selected
Federal Grants
Grants paid out of general federal funds are known as federal grants in the United States. State agency makes a financial contribution toward achieving an officially sanctioned public goal. Individuals, programs, and entitlements can apply for federal grants. Funders can either leave their grants unrestricted, enabling the recipient to put them to whatever use they see appropriate within the operations of the receiving organization. They can as well specify a specific purpose for the grant (Pasachoff, 2020). Because tax dollars pay for government grants, they are subject to strict compliance and reporting requirements to ensure that the funds are used wisely to fund the public. The policies include health care, income security, transportation, education, community development, social services, job security training, and environmental protection.
This funding method is favorable because the federal government provides financing for almost one-third of state government expenditures and more than half of health care and social assistance costs. With the federal grant-in-aid system’s major role in deciding scope and type, the amount of cash involved, and tensions between state and local governments, the legislative impact is significant (Htun et al., 2021). Therefore, the federal government funds federal subsidies to state and municipal governments. The funds infused by the state agencies will be significant for the HIV/AID program, which aims to better the community, which is the main purpose of the government to serve its people.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Local funding (RWJF)
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Local funding (RWJF) is one of the largest health-related foundations in the United States. RWJF has been working to improve American health and healthcare since 1972 (French et al., 2019). According to RWJF, efforts to create an equitable national Culture of Health should be supported. This support is to ensure that everyone has an equal chance of achieving health and well-being no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they have at their disposal. In addition, collaborating with other organizations, RWJF aims to discover structural barriers to health and well-being, such as racism, powerlessness, and discrimination, and their impacts.
As part of its mission, the RWJF funds projects that aim to better the lives of all Americans, both now and in the future. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation supports a wide range of health-related projects. Many grant programs and solicitations aim to identify and research innovative solutions through focused solicitations and a continuous plea for ambitious and revolutionary thoughts (French et al., 2019). Disseminating excellent health policies, community-based initiatives, system adjustments, and any other interventions should be the primary goal of model interventions. To better understand key health concerns, RWJF conducts extensive research and evaluations. In addition, they learn from and communicate critical lessons from our grant-making and other health-related work. Therefore, as per its goals and purposes, RWJF is a good funding option due to its public health interests. Moreover, RWJF is a great option as it aims to eliminate racial and health disparities in our communities through impact investment.
CDC HIV prevention and surveillance
The CDC’s National HIV Surveillance System is the primary tool for tracking changes in the prevalence of HIV in the United States population. The acquiring, analyzing, interpreting, and disseminating of health-related data is known as surveillance (Beer et al., 2019). An important part of HIV care is keeping an eye out for the spread of the virus and keeping track of those who have already been infected with the virus.
The CDC finances and aids state and local health organizations in their data-gathering efforts regarding HIV. De-identified data from health departments are sent to the CDC and Prevention so that data from around the United States may be analyzed to determine who is affected and why. As a result of surveillance, a national system for tracking HIV infection, disease progression, and other high-risk behaviors and characteristics will be developed over the long term (Beer et al., 2019). As a result, the CDC will be able to better deploy resources for HIV prevention efforts if it succeeds in meeting this goal.
Eligibility
The HIV/ AIDS programs and initiatives are eligible for grants. The federal government spends a significant amount of money each year on HIV/AIDS research and programs to educate the public, reduce the spread of the illness, and provide treatment. There is current information on new grant funding possibilities on the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention’s web page on HIV finance and budget (Oster et al., 2018). This shows that the CDC is highly interested in matters concerning HIV/AIDS. In addition, there is a database of HIV-related financial data maintained by the National Prevention Information Network (NPIN) of the CDC and other government organizations.
Selection Criteria
Selecting funding sources requires consideration of different elements that will influence the allocation of financial resources. Additionally, the quality of final results and feasibility of the project must evaluated. The selection criteria for the project’s financial resources will involve the elements listed below.
- Checking for benefits to see if the project’s proposed outcomes will expand public access to HIV/ AIDS implementation strategies dependent activities while still achieving the predicted goals or world public health will be evaluated in the application.
- An explanation of the project’s scope and viability where the applicant’s proposal will be judged based on a realistic approach, adequate resources, and timely completion.
- The federal government and the states’ sources of revenue to evaluate if other organizations participating in the project’s effort can provide quantified and specific pledges in their support letters, and the application will be evaluated accordingly (Hailemariam et al., 2019). The more resources an application has, the more likely it is to obtain a good score.
- Performance evaluation criteria is done to review the application and will reveal whether or not results-based performance measures have been provided.
- The ability to run the program effectively is assessed to see if they have previous project management expertise or are competent in the absence of such experience. There will be additional points provided to applicants who can demonstrate strong financial systems and audit controls in addition to clear governance standards.
- Determining if the applicant has prior experience implementing public access or comparable programs or if they are capable of doing so even without such expertise, the application will be assessed. Assessed will be the applicant’s capacity to carry out a successful public access program and the anticipated consequences of that program.
- Work schedule and budget are checked for specific tasks, and a development timetable will be examined in the work schedule. A better mark will be given to more logical, realistic, and efficient plans. Additionally, the extent to which new resources were allocated by the federal, state, tribal, and private sectors will be examined.
- Personnel qualifications for the job at hand where the evaluation of the application will assess if the planned public access program can be successfully implemented based on key individuals’ knowledge, skills, and capacities in areas like grant administration, performance monitoring, and evaluation.
An Explanation of the Funds Needed and How the Funds May be Used
Spending around $800 per patient per year to run the program effectively will be required. For instance, if the current number of patients diagnosed with HIV is around 8,500, then the amount of money required to treat the present population of people living with HIV is approximately $7 million. The salaries of the personnel who are going to be involved in the program, such as the PD/PI, the Director of Special Programs, the Primary Physician, the community, the Health Leader, the Physician Assistant, and the Nurse, are going to add up to a total cost of 458,350 dollars. This value includes the benefits that they will receive in addition to their base pay. In addition, the expense of the consultation, which will be performed by a total of three specialists and amount to 7,500 dollars, will be incurred. The funds are needed to acquire the following equipment required, and the request for that money is related to the necessary equipment. The blood pressure machine costs $50, the thermometer costs $45, the scales cost $250, the examination table costs $700, and a computer costs $650.
It is predicted that the travel to outreach centres will cost $0.20 each mile. The distance is five miles. The cost of travel for home visits will be $0.20 per mile, per hour, for the year. During the first two years of the program, there will be five trips made by staff members to visit hospitals and meet with public health authorities from the government. The reimbursement is determined based on an average of 20 miles driven each day, at $0.20 per mile. It is recommended that funds be provided to attend one professional conference once every two to three years to propose financing (1000 per trip). Other direct expenditures will include general supplies such as client incentives, printers, cartridges, flash drives for data storage, printing paper pens, and paper, with an annual cost of $3,500.
The Adjusted Total 5-Year Budget for the Proposed Project Period
The adjusted total 5-year budget for the proposed project is 2,560,256 dollars.
References
Beer, L., Johnson, C. H., Fagan, J. L., Frazier, E. L., Nyaku, M., Craw, J. A., & Shouse, R. L. (2019). A national behavioral and clinical surveillance system of adults with diagnosed HIV (The Medical Monitoring Project): Protocol for an annual cross-sectional interview and medical record abstraction survey. JMIR research protocols, 8(11), e15453. Web.
French, D. D., Wang, A., Prager, A. J., & Margo, C. E. (2019). Association of the Robert wood johnson foundations’ social determinants of health and medicare ocular hospitalizations: a cross-sectional data analysis. Ophthalmology and Therapy, 8(4), 611-622. Web.
Hailemariam, M., Bustos, T., Montgomery, B., Barajas, R., Evans, L. B., & Drahota, A. (2019). Evidence-based intervention sustainability strategies: a systematic review. Implementation Science, 14(1), 1-12. Web.
Htun, Z., Zhao, Y., Gilbert, H., & Lu, C. (2021). Role of the Global Fund in national HIV/AIDS response in Myanmar: a qualitative study. Global health research and policy, 6(1), 1-12. Web.
Nuru-Jeter, A. M., Michaels, E. K., Thomas, M. D., Reeves, A. N., Thorpe Jr, R. J., & LaVeist, T. A. (2018). Relative roles of race versus socioeconomic position in studies of health inequalities: a matter of interpretation. Annual review of public health, 39, 169-188. Web.
O’Connor, C., Leyritana, K., Calica, K., Gill, R., Doyle, A. M., Lewis, J. J., & Salvaña, E. M. (2021). Risk factors affecting adherence to antiretroviral therapy among HIV patients in Manila, Philippines: a baseline cross-sectional analysis of the Philippines Connect for Life Study. Sexual health, 18(1), 95-103. Web.
Ojikutu, B. O., Bogart, L. M., Higgins-Biddle, M., Dale, S. K., Allen, W., Dominique, T., & Mayer, K. H. (2018). Facilitators and barriers to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among black individuals in the United States: Results from the National Survey on HIV in the Black Community (NSHBC). AIDS and Behavior, 22(11), 3576-3587. Web.
Oster, A. M., France, A. M., & Mermin, J. (2018). Molecular epidemiology and the transformation of HIV prevention. Jama, 319(16), 1657-1658. Web.
Pasachoff, E. (2020). Federal Grant Rules and Realities in the Intergovernmental Administrative State: Compliance, Performance, and Politics. Yale J. on Reg., 37, 573. Web.
Rodriguez E, P., Chen, Y. C., Sun, C. A., You, S. L., Lin, J. T., Chen, K. H.,… & Heaney, C. A. (2020). Exploring health and well-being in Taiwan: what we can learn from individuals’ narratives. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-16. Web.