California: San Francisco Applies for Renewal of HIV Prevention Funds

San Francisco's health department will soon apply for CDC funding for several ongoing HIV prevention efforts. The application was prepared by the department's HIV prevention section and approved Aug. 14 at the Prevention Planning Council meeting, during which an interim progress report included brief previews of the city's HIV/AIDS strategies and priorities.

Next year, the department could develop a social networking campaign to boost HIV screening among black men who have sex with men (MSM), who are disproportionately affected. The department also wants MSM to test more frequently. One survey showed that of MSM who had not tested for HIV in the previous year, 8 percent were newly infected. The prevention section will continue to "jump start" HIV screening in medical settings, and "with local hospitals and medical providers to provide routine HIV screening in high prevalence areas."

In addition, the prevention section is hiring a linkages and partner services coordinator to ensure all HIV-positive rapid test results are confirmed by a more definitive test. The coordinator would also make certain that newly diagnosed patients get linked to medical care and other services.

Last year, the city received just over $9 million in HIV prevention funds from CDC, said Walter Chow, a CDC public health advisor who attended the meeting. He cited the federal budget deficit to explain the decrease to $8.8 million this year.

In its recent HIV/AIDS report, the health department said new HIV diagnoses fell from 839 in 2003 to 500 in 2006. The department's epidemiology section will use CDC-developed methodology to calculate HIV incidence in San Francisco, said Dr. Grant Colfax, the city's HIV prevention director. The methodology will allow the city to estimate how many of the new diagnoses are also recently acquired, he said.

For more information, visit www.sfhiv.org/community_hppc_full_council_2008.php.

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