HIV drug developer Gilead Sciences is handing over a $12.6 million grant to 19 organizations across the U.S. to “improve the HIV landscape” for Black women and girls.
The grant is part of Gilead’s new P.A.C.E. initiative: Prevention, Arts and Advocacy, Community, Education. This three-year campaign is geared toward both increasing HIV prevention and combating stigma against the disease, while also boosting health equity efforts for Black cisgender and transgender women and girls.
These groups are “disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic,” Gilead says in a release, and the company is funneling the $12.6 million into 19 organizations to help.
Specifically, the groups getting the cash will be set to work expanding programs that provide “culturally-responsive HIV care training,” according to Gilead, as well as tapping the arts and media to engage local communities and address stigma.
The majority of the organizations picked are led by Black women, while the states in which the programs will be used have higher numbers of Black women living with HIV.
“Gilead’s Setting the P.A.C.E. grant marks a pivotal moment for Ribbon and the communities we serve across the nation,” said Linda H. Scruggs, co-executive director of Ribbon, which is one of the P.A.C.E. grantees.
“Our focus on the intersection of Black cisgender and Transgender women in relation to HIV is not just about addressing an unmet need, it's about rewriting narratives and changing destinies.”