The Houston Health Department (HHD) requests City Council approval of an ordinance approving and authorizing the grant application to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System (NHBS). The project period is from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021, for a total project funding of $514,795.00. HHD requests City Council to authorize the director of Houston Health Department to accept and expend approved funding as soon as awarded and accept supplemental awards offered by USDHHS, CDC during the project period.
HHD also requests City Council authorize the Mayor to execute all related contracts, agreements and documents with the approval of the City Attorney in connection with the grant application and to authorize the Director or his designee to act as the City's representative with the authority to apply for, accept and expend the grant funds as awarded; and to accept and expend all subsequent supplemental awards, if any, and to extend the term and/or budget and period not to exceed five years, if extended by CDC during the project period.
The grant continues an ongoing HIV program to ascertain the HIV risk behaviors and trends among men having sex with men (MSM), injection drug users (IDU) and heterosexuals at risk for HIV infection. The project will evaluate the access to and use of HIV prevention services and testing services among high risk populations.
The National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) is a platform that monitors HIV risk-related behaviors as well as emerging infections among high-risk populations such as sexually transmitted infections (STI) and hepatitis viruses. Data from NHBS provide estimates of HIV, awareness of infection, risk behaviors, and access to and use of prevention services including HIV testing and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) among members of high-risk populations. This is critical to achieving the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) and CDC’s High-Impact Prevention (HIP) approach. The goal is to produce high-quality locally and nationally representative data on the behavioral and clinical characteristics of high-risk, hard-to-reach populations; develop a strong data dissemination plan targeted to potential local and national users; enhance collaborations among federal, sate, and local partners in Houston/Harris County responsible for HIV case surveillance, prevention, and treatment; increase the proportion of persons who are aware of and linked to HIV care; and decrease the number of new HIV infections, HIV-associated morbidity, and disparities in health outcomes during the project period.
Fiscal Note:
No Fiscal Note is required on grant funds.
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Stephen L. Williams, M.Ed., M.P.A.
Director - Houston Health Department