Major Federal Grant Awarded for HIV/AIDS Prevention in Farwest Region
The Farwest Region of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., in conjunction with the Delta Research and Educational Foundation, was recently awarded a major grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Women’s Health.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Women’s Health grant, totaling $750,000 over a three-year period was awarded to fight the spread of the HIV virus afflicting young, sexually-active, African American females. The grant award is a part of the federal government health initiative: “The Young Women’s HIV STD Mobilization Project: Moving Beyond the Messaging.”
The Farwest Region of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) are collaborating to implement the “Know Your Status, Get Tested” HIV/AIDS awareness prevention campaign in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. The Farwest Region Delta chapters located in Tokyo, Japan; Okinawa, Japan; and Seoul, Korea will also join in the AIDS prevention campaign. The Delta chapters will promote a message of hope, available medical assistance, and the value of prevention to the hundreds of thousands of HIV-susceptible or infected young, African American women.
Dr. LaVerne Gray Davis, director of the Sorority's Farwest Region, is project director of the “Know Your Status, Get Tested” prevention campaign, and Dr. Valerie Wardlaw is the project coordinator. For more information, visit their website: knowyourstatusgettested.org or send an email to: knowyourstatusgettested@gmail.com.
