The Arizona Border HIV/AIDS Care (ABHAC) Project is the collaborative proposal of agencies seeking to develop and implement innovative, seamless service capacities for early intervention and sustained primary medical care for those infected by HIV within the Arizona-Mexico border region.Within this border region the influx of illegal drugs and impoverished migrants has significantly escalated the presence of risk factors for HIV infection.  Barriers to care are many, including economic, travel hardship, concerns over lack of confidentiality and the resultant stigmatization, cultural and linguistic differences, and scarcity of physicians knowledgeable in care for HIV infection.
Proposed goals for the project include: 1.) improving capacity to provide targeted outreach and counseling to at-risk border populations that will result in increased testing and identification of those infected with HIV, 2.) successfully engaging those who test positive with primary health care services, and 3.)  enhancing localized capacity of accessible primary care providers skilled in the care of individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.  Collaborative partners in the project include local community health centers, county health departments, and promotora programs from each of the four counties (Cochise, Pima, Santa Cruz and Yuma) along the Arizona-Mexico border.  Staffing expansion and training will be provided to increase identification of HIV+ status and subsequent counseling and referral to services.  El Rio Health Center will provide physicians with extensive backgrounds in HIV care to work with the Arizona AIDS Education and training Center (ETC) to develop and implement an integrated co-management/training system that will provide HIV primary care skills to each local border community.  The Arizona Border HIV/AIDS Care Project will provide the organizational structure to further integrate services of participating agencies with ancillary services and HIV care systems in Sonora, Mexico.
Evaluation strategies have been developed that will provide quantitative and qualitative components that will, in conjunction with the regional evaluation center, effectively measure the project’s impact on both individuals and systems along the Arizona/Sonora border.  The Arizona AIDS ETC will facilitate dissemination of project activities, in coordination with the HIV/AIDS Bureau, through regional and national ETC networks.

 

For comments about this web page, please contact
Tim Brittingham at tbrittingham@ou.edu or (405) 325-8792.