HIV prevention community planning and communities of color: Do resources track the epidemic?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funds provided to stat e, local, and territorial health departments for HIV-prevention activities are prioritized with the substantial involvement of HIV-prevention communit y planning groups (CPGs). This article examines whether or not these funds (more than $261 million in fiscal year 1998) are allocated in a way that mi rrors the HIV/AIDS epidemic in terms of race/ethnicity. Aids prevalence data were used to reflect disease burden, and were compared to budget data submitted by health departments to the CDC. The budget data report expenditures by race/ethnicity for two major types of activities: ( I) health education and risk reduction (more than $104 million); and (2) co unseling, testing, referral, and partner notification (more than $91 millio n). The rank order correlation between funding and AIDS prevalence data for the five specific racial/ethnic categories was .900 (n = 5, p < .05) for healt h education and risk reduction (HERR) activities, and 1.000 (n = 5, p < .05 ) for counseling, testing, referral, and partner notification (CTRPN) activ ities. From 1997 to 1998, the proportion of funds targeted and accounted. f or by race/ethnicity increased from 79 percent to 88 percent for HERR, and from 71 percent to 84 percent for CTRPN activities. With regard to race/ethnicity, health departments and CPGs appear to be act ively targeting and accounting for HIV prevention resources, and we will ar gue that relatively small changes in counseling and testing resources for A frican-American and Latino/Latina communities would result in a close match between AIDS prevalence data and devoted resources.