DeKalb County Board of Health Receives Grant to Address Increase in HIV/AIDS Cases

Although the number of reported AIDS cases in the U.S. is decreasing, the trend in DeKalb County is just the opposite. The number of DeKalb residents known to be HIV-positive or to have AIDS is actually increasing.

To meet this growing challenge, the DeKalb County Board of Health recently received a $1.3 million, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The funding is through the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, legislation named for an Indiana teen who died of AIDS in 1990.

The grant will increase support for the Board of Health’s comprehensive primary care for people living with HIV/AIDS. With the new money, the agency plans to expand its services for HIV-positive individuals to include nutrition and optometry services while adding other needed staff.

"This funding is extremely important for DeKalb County and all of the Atlanta metropolitan area. These are new dollars coming to us to provide more services to the community. We have seen the number of clients coming to the DeKalb County Board of Health increase dramatically over the last year," said Robert DiVito, director of HIV Services.

"Also, there's more need among our current clients because many are living longer than in the past thanks to new drug treatments. Ninety percent of the people we see are uninsured, so they really depend on us," explained DiVito.

For more information about the DeKalb County Board of Health's HIV Services, call (404) 508-7866.

12/07/01