National Minority AIDS Council Building Healthier Communities
Building Leadership in Communities of Color to Address HIV/AIDS
The Minority AIDS Initiative
The Minority AIDS Initiative
The History of the Minority AIDS Initiative and its Impact on HIV/AIDS in Communities of Color
Created in 1998 and codified into the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act reauthorization in 2006, this groundbreaking legislation has saved countless lives by expanding community-based capacity to serve people of color living with HIV/AIDS.
In March 1998, African-American leaders were briefed on the highly disproportionate impact of the disease in their communities. They developed a Call to Action requesting that the President and Surgeon General declare HIV/AIDS a “State of Emergency” in the African-American community. These leaders also testified before the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), urging action on their part.
The overall goal of the MAI is to improve HIV/AIDS-related health outcomes for racial and ethnic minority communities disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. It allows communities to expand local service capacity primarily through minority community-based organizations (MCBOs), to increase the availability of medications, primary care, support services, and outreach services to communities of color, and support the development of new and innovative programs designed to reduce HIV-related health disparities.
The MAI takes a multi-pronged approach to HIV/AIDS, focusing on HIV prevention, care, treatment and research.
On December 19, 2006, President Bush signed the Ryan White Treatment Modernization Act of 2006. This legislation, passed by Congress after an almost two-year process spearheaded by NMAC, made significant changes to the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, including a number of changes in how funds are awarded across the country. The legislation also incorporated the Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) into the law.
The MAI is an underlying statute now; yet its purpose remains unchanged. The MAI continues to bridge the gap in HIV service delivery by providing services to underserved communities and empowering local community-based providers in efforts to reach high-risk populations that cannot be reached by traditional models.