Study: Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Still Relevant

published on September 2, 2015 by Sarah Wickline Wallan, in MedPage Today

Poor patients more likely to achieve viral suppression with care at RWHAP-funded facility

In addition to medical care, HIV patients treated at facilities funded by the 25-year-old Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) were more likely to receive support services and achieve viral suppression compared with patients at other facilities, researchers reported.

At first glance, HIV-positive patients at the non-RWHAP-funded facilities appeared to have better viral suppression (79.0% versus 74.4%), but after adjustment for patient characteristics, those with incomes at or below the poverty level and those ages 30-39 were significantly more likely to achieve viral suppression in RWHAP-funded facilities versus non-RWHAP-funded facilities, reported John Weiser, MD, MPH, of the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues in JAMA Internal Medicine.

"In this new era of treatment as prevention, the program is once again proving to be flexible in adapting to new challenges," Stephen F. Morin, PhD, of the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California San Francisco, wrote in an accompanying editorial. "As some HIV primary care is being shifted to [Affordable Care Act] coverage, the need for more intensive medical case management and other support services not covered by ACA or Medicaid plans is now being recognized as essential to getting the maximum proportion of HIV patients virally suppressed."

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