August 1, 2012
The Merck Company Foundation has awarded a three-year, $1 million grant to help Philadelphia link HIV-positive people to care. Only an estimated one-third of people known to have HIV are receiving health care, MCF said, and 20 percent to 40 percent of patients do not establish care within six months of their diagnosis. Philadelphia said it will use "system navigators" to help HIV patients make their way through the health care system. Health departments in Atlanta and Houston also received MCF grants.