Black/African American individuals comprise 46.6% of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program's (RWHAP) 567,083 clients, according to HRSA's RWHAP Annual Client-Level Data Report, 2019. Nearly three-quarters of RWHAP clients are from racial/ethnic minority populations.
Black/African Americans comprise 46.6% of RWHAP clients and had a viral suppression rate of 85.2% in 2019
From 2010 through 2019, viral suppression rates of RWHAP clients have steadily increased across all racial/ethnic populations, with an overall improvement of 69.5% to 88.1% over this time frame. For Blacks/African Americans, the rate increase was comparable, from 63.3% to 85.2% over this same time period. The gap between Black/African American and White RWHAP clients has lessened over time.
HRSA's HIV/AIDS Bureau will be updating its data slide sets and fact sheets in early 2021 to reflect 2019 client level data.
African American RWHAP Initiatives
In recognition of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on February 7, below is a recap of RWHAP Technical Assistance (TA), training, and other activities--from models of care to special initiatives.
Improving Care for African Americans and Other Populations
HRSA has funded multiple technical assistance (TA) and training initiatives to improve services for African Americans and other minority populations. Tools developed to date are listed under HIV Care Innovations: Replication Resources. Below are highlights:
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Dissemination of Evidence-Informed Interventions has developed evidence-informed Care and Treatment Interventions (CATI) packages, including two focused on women of color.
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The Integrating HIV Innovative Practices (IHIP) Project packages tools derived from multiple SPNS initiatives, including the Enhancing Access for Women of Color Initiative.
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In late 2020, HRSA's Center for Quality Improvement and Innovation (CQII) initiated a Clinical Quality Management initiative to mitigate disparities associated with social determinants of health (create+equity Collaborative). This effort follows the earlier end+disparities ECHO Collaborative, which wrapped up work in 2020.
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The Transgender Women of Color Initiative published an intervention manual on lessons learned, overall and by the sites in this SPNS initiative.
Engaging Black MSM in Care
HRSA has supported numerous initiatives over the decades to enhance care delivery for hard-hit populations and to close the gap in outcomes for clients receiving RWHAP care and services.
- His Health: Engaging Black MSM in HIV Care with a compendium of care models, training modules, and resources for enhanced linkage, retention, and engagement strategies targeting Black MSM. The site is designed for providers and offers continuing medical education (CME) and continuing nursing unit (CNU) credits for clinicians to increase their capacity to provide high-quality health care to Black MSM.
- Well Versed is a conversation-starting resource for health care providers and Black MSM. This consumer-oriented website provides information about how to get the most out of health care by being active and informed.
- In It Together, a National Health Literacy Project for Black MSM, is another recent HRSA-supported project designed to increase health professionals’ understanding and use of health literacy to improve engagement and retention in HIV care and treatment.