In recognition of World AIDS Day, Kaiser Permanente has awarded community service grants totaling $395,000 to 51 agencies in Southern California that provide services to people who are HIV-positive or have Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

The individual grants awarded range from $1,000 to $50,000, and were given to non-profit organizations that provide a wide range of services including HIV testing, teen adventure camps, emergency food vouchers, and support groups for women and children with HIV. Many projects that received grants are involved in outreach efforts aimed at preventing new HIV cases.

"Kaiser Permanente has made HIV prevention and treatment a priority because the rate of infection continues to rise in some populations. Today, Kaiser Permanente Southern California provides service to more than 5,000 identified HIV-plus members," said Mark H Katz, MD, Regional HIV/AIDS Physician Coordinator for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California.

"We want to provide quality care to our HIV-positive patients and do what we can for non-members who are at risk of, or have acquired the disease. The latter is where our community service grants play an important role," said Katz.

Physicians, nurses, health educators and Kaiser Permanente staff members who work with HIV and AIDS patients select grant recipients from the communities they themselves serve. Many agencies were chosen because they provide services that are not covered by insurance benefits or not available through state, county and federal agencies.

Kaiser Permanente has presented grants to HIV-focused organizations since 1989. This year's $395,000 brings the total to more than $3.5 million since the program's inception.

In addition to grants, Kaiser Permanente's commitment to preventing disease of all kinds, including HIV/AIDS, is demonstrated by the organization's innovative public health programs.

Since the early 1980s when HIV/AIDS was first diagnosed, Kaiser Permanente has been a leader in meeting the tough challenges of this virus, both through medical care and work in the community. Beginning with the HIV Research Clinics in 1987, all Kaiser Permanente medical centers now participate in studies which have helped move HIV/AIDS treatment forward.

Another area of success has been prenatal care. As a result of a concerted effort to increase HIV antibody testing, an impressive 90 percent of pregnant women receiving prenatal care at Kaiser Permanente in California are voluntarily tested for HIV.

Kaiser Permanente (http://www.kaiserpermanente.org) is a prepaid, group practice health maintenance organization (HMO), founded in 1945. The Kaiser Permanente Southern California Region has more than 3.1 million members. It includes 3,600 physicians in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG) and 45,000 Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals employees. The Region is served by 11 major medical centers.