Rural Center for AIDS Prevention at IU receives $250,000 federal grant

Yarber and IU President Myles Brand credited support from Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) in making the federal funds possible.

“Yarber’s important work will help to control this devastating disease in communities that have been largely under-served by other AIDS prevention programs,” said Brand. “Sen. Bayh has worked diligently to help secure this funding for Indiana University, and we are extremely grateful for his support.”

“RCAP commends Sen. Bayh for this commitment to fighting the AIDS epidemic and for his vision in supporting this unique cooperative venture of three universities,” Yarber said. “We are most grateful for his support of our goal of reducing HIV/STD incidenc e in rural areas.”

The CDC is the lead federal agency in preventing and controlling diseases such as HIV/AIDS. The funding will involve three primary activities: providing an information exchange program among education specialists concerning HIV prevention in rural communi ties, developing HIV prevention programs and policies for rural areas, and providing new technical assistance to community-based organizations and HIV prevention specialists in rural areas.

The center also will hold national conferences on HIV/STD prevention in rural communities and conduct research on behavioral and social barriers to HIV/STD prevention that can be applied to prevention programming.

Yarber said RCAP is the only center in the country focusing solely on HIV/STD prevention in rural areas. The center was started in 1994 as a mutual project of Indiana and Purdue universities, with funding originally coming from the U.S. Department of Agri culture. With the new CDC funding, the center will continue to be headquartered at IU but also will include the Texas A&M University School of Rural Public Health.