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University of Virginia Expands Medical Services to AIDS Patients in Rural Virginia

The University of Virginia Infectious Diseases Clinic has received a $343,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to expand care for HIV-infected individuals who live in the rural western region of the state, an area with limited medical care facilities for AIDS patients.

Care opportunities are limited in the rural areas by lack of informed health care providers, fear of minimal or nonexistent confidentiality due to the nature of small towns, and lack of transportation to an HIV clinic in another area, said Dr. Gregory Townsend, assistant director of the UVa Infectious Diseases Clinic.

The goal of the project is to increase the accessibility of on-going, state of the art, primary medical management for people with HIV disease. Specific activities will be implemented to reach high risk populations with particular emphasis on women and children, migrant workers and individuals in rural areas.

Nationwide, HIV is rising most rapidly in women in rural areas of the Southeast, and Virginia is no exception, Townsend said. The proportion of AIDS cases in females has gradually increased from 15.5 percent in 1994 to 16.8 percent in 1996. The racial distribution has also gradually changed over time, with black, non-Hispanic's representing 55.5 percent in 1994, increasing to 59.5 percent in 1996.

In 1996, seventy-nine percent of females with AIDS were between 20 to 49 years of age. Heterosexual transmission accounted for 66 percent of AIDS cases in women in rural areas and small cities in the southern United States according to a recent survey.

If the current trends continue, HIV infection will increasingly affect women and their families in the rural South. As the possibilities for successful management of HIV infection continue to emerge, it will be even more important to provide access to high quality health care for these individuals, Townsend said.

Major objectives of the project are:

  • Establish a family-centered HIV care program to provide medical and psycho/social services for patients and their families.

  • Initiate outreach program to provide management of HIV infection for patients in distant regions of the state.

  • Increase testing and counseling services to higher risk populations, including migrant farm workers, through coordination with health departments and other appropriate community resources in an effort to curb the spread of the disease.

  • Expand currently available education regarding HIV disease process, therapy and infection control to clients, significant others and their families.

  • Establish a patient advisory board to give patients with HIV infection more input into how the clinic meets their needs.
The UVa Infectious Diseases Clinic was established in 1987 as a result of the need for quality care for HIV-infected individuals. The clinic is a major referral center for patients with HIV infection who live in northwest and southwest regions of Virginia.

December 2, 1998