HHS Office Of Minority Health Awards Nearly $11 Million To Eliminate Health Disparities

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 04 Dec 2007 - 11:00 PDT

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The Office of Minority Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the award of nearly $11 million to 53 organizations, to support efforts to eliminate health disparities in racial and ethnic minority communities.

"These grant awards will go a long way in helping us continue our efforts to support and nurture the great work of many organizations nationwide," said Dr. Garth Graham, deputy assistant secretary for minority health. "We must all work together to close the health gap among minorities and transform our communities into safer and healthier places for all people."

The awards include seven competitive grants totaling nearly $900,000 for the State Partnerships to Improve Minority Health Program. The grants will support efforts that address data needs, partnership development, systems development, work force diversity, asthma, heart disease and stroke, adult immunization, infant mortality, mental health, obesity, and overweight. The recipients are state and territorial offices of minority health.

The OMH also awarded 23 competitive grants totaling more than $5.6 million to support community programs to improve minority health in high-risk communities. These grants are intended to examine and demonstrate the effectiveness of community-based interventions and partnerships in reducing social, cultural and linguistic barriers to health care and implementing promising practices and model programs. The recipients are community- and faith-based organizations.

Nearly $2.3 million was awarded by OMH to 13 organizations for the Bilingual/Bicultural Demonstration Grant Program. This competitive program was developed in response to a congressional mandate to develop the capacity of health care professionals to address the cultural and linguistic barriers to health delivery and increase access to health care for limited English-proficient populations, particularly those who are racial or ethnic minorities. The recipients include community organizations, public agencies, and academic health centers.

OMH awarded $1.2 million to six Tribal Epidemiology Centers (TECs) for the American Indian/Alaska Native Health Disparities Program. The competitive grant program aims to improve the effectiveness of efforts to eliminate health disparities for American Indian and Alaska Native communities through increased access and utilization of data and data-related activities. The program is intended to strengthen the capacity of TECs to collect and manage data more effectively and to better understand and develop the links among public health problems and behavior, socioeconomic conditions, and geography.

Nearly $800,000 was awarded by OMH to four organizations for the HIV/AIDS Health Promotion and Education Program. These grants will support projects intended to increase awareness of risk factors and prevention methods, foster health promoting behaviors, reduce high-risk behaviors, improve access to services, and increase counseling and testing, connections to a continuum of care, and patient knowledge.

The grants awarded today provide first-year funding for projects that are expected to be funded for a total of three to five years.

Office of Minority Health