Gilead Sciences https://www.gilead.com has announced a new health equity collaboration with the Satcher Health Leadership Institute (SHLI) at the Morehouse School of Medicine, https://www.msm.edu and with the Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education (CMHDRE) at Xavier University https://www.xula.edu.
The collaboration is focused on addressing inequities in HIV care for Black communities in the Southern U.S. Research shows that inequities drive higher rates of HIV infection as well as worse HIV clinical outcomes among Black Americans.
SHLI and CMHDRE are making enormous efforts to improve access to HIV care to Black Americans. To do this effectively, Gilead will award a total of $4.5 million over a three year period to support their work in Atlanta, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans.
The partnership between SHLI and CMHDRE with support from Gilead will be to:
- Increase understanding of the impact of COVID-19 in the Black community
- Realign HIV services to reflect on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Provide training focused on culturally appropriate HIV care and the use of stigma reducing strategies
- Increase access to and utilization of culturally appropriate care for Black Americans impacted by the HIV epidemic
A recent report commissioned by Gilead, “HIV in the Time of COVID-19: Leaving No-One Behind to Truly End the HIV Epidemic” details a broad range of barriers to health equity including social and economic factors.
Another Gilead program that addresses health equity includes the COMPASS Initiative®, a ten year $100 million commitment toward addressing HIV/AIDS inequities in the South. Also, Gilead’s Zeroing in Program supports communities in 41 countries that have been hit doubly hard by HIV and the COVID-19 pandemic. Gilead has also created a $10 million Racial Equity Community Impact Fund to support organizations fighting racial inequities affecting Black communities.