The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) administers the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP). This is the largest federal program focused on HIV. The RWHAP funds HIV care and treatment services for low-income people with HIV. Many people who receive services through the RWHAP are uninsured or underserved.

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program legislation was first enacted in 1990 as the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act. It has been amended and reauthorized four times in 1996, 2000, 2006, and 2009. These changes accommodate new and emerging needs, such as an increased emphasis on funding core medical services and changes in funding formulas.

Learn more about the program here: Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program

One of the important aspects of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) is its focus on community health planning for HIV care and treatment. Community health planning is a deliberate effort to involve diverse community members in “an open public process designed to improve the availability, accessibility, and quality of healthcare services in their community.” The process involves “identifying community needs, assessing capacity to meet those needs, allocating resources, and resolving conflicts.”

For RWHAP Part A, planning councils/planning bodies play that role.

RWHAP planning councils are unique. No other federal health or human services program has a legislatively required planning body that is the decision maker about how funds will be used, has such defined membership composition, and requires such a high level of consumer participation (at least 33 percent). When more than 100 recipients, planning council leaders, and planning council support staff were asked in a recent national assessment about the greatest value of planning councils, they most often identified the following benefits

- Community involvement in decision making about HIV services

- A consumer voice in decisions about services

- Collaboration among diverse stakeholders, including consumers and other people living with HIV, providers, the local health department, researchers, and other community members, with everyone sitting at the same table and working together to make the best decisions for the community

- Positive impact on the service system, including improvements in access to and quality of care, and contributions to positive client outcomes including viral suppression.

HRSA awards RWHAP grants to cities, states, counties, and community-based groups to:

1. Provide HIV medical care, treatment, and support services for people with HIV

2. Improve health outcomes and reduce the transmission of HIV

There are resources for you! To learn more about the services we provide please reference our “HIV Services and Testing Centers,” to locate resources for you and loved ones.