The Houston Health Department (HHD) requests City Council approval of an ordinance approving and authorizing a grant application to and acceptance of an award from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for HHD’s HIV prevention activities in reducing HIV infections and improving engagement in HIV medical care. The project period is from September 30, 2017 through September 29, 2020. The budget period is from September 30, 2017 through September 29, 2018.
HHD also requests that City Council authorize the Director or his designee to act as the City’s representative in the application process with the authority to apply for, accept and expend the grant funds and to apply for and accept and expend all subsequent supplemental awards, if any, and to authorize the Mayor to execute all related contracts, agreements, amendments, and documents in connection with this grant for a period not to exceed 5 years.
Houston, ranking 11th nationally in rate of new HIV diagnosis, experiences a burden of HIV higher than both the State of Texas and the United States overall. Harris County is ethnically diverse with Hispanic residents comprising the largest subgroup at nearly 41% of the population. Approximately 77% of new HIV diagnosis within the Hispanic community in Houston and Harris County are among men who have sex with men (MSM). Since 2006 Hispanic MSMs have experienced the sharpest increases in new HIV diagnosis compared to all other local MSMs.
Despite a robust HIV prevention and care response in the Houston area, innovative interventions are imperative to realize equitable access to care and achieve reductions in new infections, particularly among the Hispanic MSM population. The PODER (Promotion Of Data to Engage Latino MSM in the HIV Response) project will use partner services data to identify and prioritize Hispanic MSMs who are part of, or at high risk of becoming part of, active HIV transmission clusters. To interrupt transmission, HHD will provide HIV linkage services to increase viral suppression while also increasing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) knowledge among HIV-negative Hispanic MSMs and the providers serving them. Project PODER will not only focus on identifying reported barriers to prevention and care, but will also prioritize linkage to ancillary services to mitigate these obstacles. The PODER team will partner with stakeholders actively serving this community to develop culturally and linguistically appropriate materials, messaging and processes. HHD will serve as a facilitator to ensure that activities are coordinated across agencies throughout the jurisdiction.
HHD has the capacity, expertise and partnerships to successfully implement Project PODER and tailor existing programs to best serve the needs of the Hispanic MSM community identified in sexual and social networks of active HIV transmission