ViiV Healthcare Awards Southern Initiative Grants to Reduce HIV Disparities Among African Americans and Latinos

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., September 9 /PRNewswire/ -- ViiV Healthcare today announced the grant awardees of the Positive Action Southern Initiative, focused on supporting African American and Latino populations in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi to help high-risk HIV/AIDS individuals and provide linkages to HIV/AIDS care and treatment adherence.  

"The Positive Action Southern Initiative awards are being made at a critical time in the national fight against HIV. These funds are nothing short of life-saving.  Community organizations are facing tremendous pressure to do more with less in this economic climate and the demands continue to grow, especially among African American and Latino communities in Southern states," stated A. Cornelius Baker, Senior Policy Advisor of the National Black Gay Men's Advocacy Coalition.  "I am excited that ViiV is supporting such important initiatives that address disparities in HIV and support the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy."

In the U.S., 1.1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS(i) and African Americans and Latinos account for a disproportionate share of new HIV infections (62 percent).  In 2007, the Southern United States accounted for almost half (46 percent) of new AIDS cases and has the greatest number of people estimated to be living with AIDS(i).

The Southern Initiative is part of ViiV Healthcare's Positive Action, a collaborative, community-focused program designed to address gaps in services or programs that support care and treatment adherence among individuals living with HIV/AIDS.  ViiV Healthcare has committed $850,000 this year to support Positive Action Community Grants in the U.S. and $500,000 over the next two years to support the Southern Initiative grantees.  ViiV Healthcare is hosting the grant recipients at this week's United States Conference on AIDS, where they will enable the development of a Regional HIV Network to share best practices and resources to advance the fight against HIV.

ViiV Healthcare has selected a total of seven organizations to receive grants over the next two years to support their programs specifically focused on reducing disparities in HIV/AIDS linkages to care and treatment among African American and Latinos in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi.  The following organizations were selected as grant awardees:

• Aid to Inmate Moms, based in Montgomery, AL, will continue its collaboration with local AIDS Service Organizations to support HIV-positive incarcerated women with critical counseling services.
• Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition, based in Atlanta, GA, will provide additional case management services for HIV-positive individuals who are re-entering the community from the state's jails and prisons.
• Family Service of Greater Baton Rouge, based in Baton Rouge, LA, will expand its Corrections Referral and Case Management program to serve more HIV-positive individuals exiting the corrections system and to successfully connect them with quality care.
• Grace House in Jackson, MS, will expand its CLEAR (Choosing Life: Empowerment, Action, Results) program to serve more HIV-positive clients and provide services aimed at improving treatment adherence, cognitive behavior, and prevention activities.
• Positive Impact, based in Atlanta, GA, will provide additional intensive case management services for HIV-positive Latino individuals and HIV-positive African American women.
• Southwest Louisiana AIDS Council based in Lake Charles, LA, will expand its medical systems navigation program, FAST (Find, Assess, Stabilize, and Treat), to serve additional newly-diagnosed persons, previously incarcerated persons, and those who have not successfully remained in care.
• Union Mission's J.C. Lewis Primary Health Care Center, based in Savannah, GA, will enhance its Healthy Living education and adherence program for homeless and low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS.

"ViiV Healthcare received a great response from grassroots organizations in the South demonstrating the need is great.  The awardees' proposed programs are unique and provide promise towards alleviating HIV in the United States among communities most impacted by the disease.  ViiV Healthcare puts the interests of those affected by HIV at the center of everything we do.  We are honored to support communities through these grants.  It is our hope the initiatives will positively impact those areas in critical need of HIV/AIDS resources," said Bill Collier, Head of North America, ViiV Healthcare.

About ViiV Healthcare's Positive Action Programs

Positive Action, a global program, funds projects that enable grassroots community action, builds capacity in community-based organizations, tests innovative approaches, encourages HIV prevention programs, supports vulnerable populations, and helps these communities tackle stigma and discrimination.

An extension of Positive Action, the Positive Action for Children Fund, was launched in 2009 to support programs focused on preventing HIV transmission from mother-to-child, as well as the health and well being of women, orphans, and vulnerable children around the globe.  Over the next ten years, ViiV Healthcare will invest 50 million pounds in this fund, with our inaugural grants awarded in 2010.

In the U.S., Positive Action has committed more than one million dollars in grants to over 50 national and local community organizations.

About ViiV Healthcare  

ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established by GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV.  Our aim is to take a deeper and broader interest in HIV/AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach to deliver effective and new HIV medicines as well as support communities affected by HIV.  For more information on the company, its management, portfolio, pipeline, and commitment, please visit www.viivhealthcare.com.

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements

GlaxoSmithKline disclosure notice: Under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, GSK cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by GSK, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.  Factors that may affect GSK' s operations are described under 'Risk Factors' in the 'Business Review' in the company' s Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2009.

Pfizer disclosure notice: Pfizer assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information or future events or developments.

This release contains forward-looking information about Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and ViiV Healthcare and about the prospects of the companies, including revenues from in-line products and the potential benefits of product candidates that will be contributed to that company, as well as the potential financial impact of the transaction.  Such information involves substantial risks and uncertainties including, among other things, decisions by regulatory authorities regarding whether and when to approve any drug applications that have been or may be filed for such product candidates as well as their decisions regarding labeling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of such product candidates; and competitive developments.

A further list and description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Pfizer's Annual Report of Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009 and in its reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K.

(i) Kaiser Family Foundation. Fact Sheet: The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States, September 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2010, from http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/3029-10.pdf

SOURCE ViiV Healthcare