If you’re HIV-positive, there are steps you can take to prevent spreading the infection to others. Plus, you can access needed care to help you manage your own health.

Mother to Child Transmission

Florida is ranked first in the United States for total pediatric AIDS cases and number two for total pediatric HIV cases. Sadly, 96% of the infected infants and children were infected through the birth process. In response to the high risk status among Floridians, the State of Florida has specific laws in place that require health care providers to conduct routine prenatal screening for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV. Still, we continue to see infected babies.

The Perinatal HIV Prevention Community is an educational platform that powers dialog to assure that all health care providers know and understand the laws related to HIV/STD testing and reporting in pregnancy and why this continues to be an important issue in our communities.

We’ve designed the Perinatal Community to be simple to use. It offers a variety of resources related to testing and prevention of mother-to-child transmission and provides the necessary tools to help you make your facility proactive in the fight against HIV. Click here to learn more.

Partnership for Health: a Brief Safer-Sex Intervention for HIV Outpatient Clinics.

The Partnership for Health intervention helps HIV-positive patients protect themselves and their partners and helps HIV-positive persons with disclosing their status, when appropriate. Staff and patients discuss topics related to sexual health, addressing the benefits or consequences of specific behaviors and choices. These dialogues continue with subsequent office visits. Clinicians assist with referrals, as needed, to address barriers keeping patients from living successfully with their HIV infection. For more information please contact: John-Mark Schacht at 850-245-4444 ext. 2574.

For additional information on the Partnership for Health program please click here to download a PDF.

Linkage

It is estimated that 20 – 25% of persons living with HIV know they are infected and are not receiving consistent medical care. Combined with the people who are newly diagnosed, there is a great need to focus on linking HIV-infected individuals to available care and treatment. In Florida, we have a number of specific programs that work to connect people to care, and maintain that care over time. The Linkage Team has worked to redefine the culture of those who serve HIV-infected persons, to enlist everyone in the spectrum of services (case managers, medical providers, prevention providers, etc) and link those with HIV to medical care. We invite community providers, consumers, patient care advocates, clinical staff and others to be a part of the “Linkage Team” as we assist HIV-infected individuals to find a medical home.

Minority AIDS Initiative

Florida’s HIV program currently funds seven community-based organizations to increase and continue minority participation in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. The Antiretroviral Treatment Access Study (ARTAS) is implemented as a tool to improve linkage to care for HIV-infected minorities who are not in care.