Black/African American individuals comprise nearly 45% of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program's (RWHAP) 576,040 clients, according to HRSA's RWHAP Annual Client-Level Data Report, 2023 (HRSA, December 2024).
According to the report, 87.1% of Black/African American individuals receiving HIV medical care from HRSA's RWHAP were virally suppressed, compared to 63.3% in 2010. Over the time period 2010 through 2022, viral suppression rates of RWHAP clients have steadily and significantly increased, overall and across all racial/ethnic populations. The overall improvement was 69.5% to 90.6%.
As with all RWHAP populations, viral suppression rates are less robust among RWHAP clients who are younger, experience temporary/unstable housing, and lack health insurance, although comparable improvements have been recorded across all of these population groups.
HIV Care Interventions
HRSA has funded and number of TA and training projects that focus on developing HIV care interventions supporting Black/African American populations. This "pipeline" of resources is assessed for inclusion in the Best Practices Compilation of interventions funded by HRSA's RWHAP that have demonstrated effectiveness at improving client HIV outcomes.
One of the newest such projects is the Black Women First Initiative (BWF). This project will soon release replication materials for the delivery of evidence-informed interventions that, when bundled together, focus on: enhanced case management, stigma reduction, trauma-informed behavioral health care, intimate partner violence, self-efficacy, health literacy, and TransLife care to support continued engagement in HIV care and improve health outcomes among Black cisgender and transgender women.
Examples of interventions focused on Black/African American populations, currently included in the Best Practices Compilation, include:
- The Village Project, an intensive case management-based intervention that harnesses peer navigation and integrated behavioral health services to improve the health outcomes of young Black gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men.
- Project CONNECT engages Black men who have sex with men (MSM) with HIV into medical care through early orientation to the clinic, relationship building, and enhanced personal contact.
- Building Brothers Up used case management to engage and reengage in HIV care Black men who have sex with men. The program, part of a SPNS Black MSM Initiative, documented "improvements in retention in HIV medical care and viral suppression" for a study population of 40 over 12 months.
Clinical Quality Improvement
HRSA's Center for Quality Improvement and Innovation (CQII) initiated an Impact Now Collaborative national quality improvement initiative to maximize the national viral suppression rate. Earlier CQII projects include an initiative to mitigate disparities associated with social determinants of health (create+equity Collaborative) and the end+disparities ECHO Collaborative, which wrapped up work in 2020.
Conference Presentations
Use our Conference Presentations database to find and filter presentations and posters from past Ryan White Conferences, like the 10 sessions specific to African Americans, held at the 2024 National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care & Treatment.