What Proportion of Private HIV Funding Supports People of Color?

*This article originally appeared in POZ.

POZ readers are well aware that the HIV epidemic disproportionately affects people of color, especially Black gay and bisexual men and transgender women. But does HIV-related funding from private sources adequately support these communities? Looking at 2018 data covering nearly $200 million, the folks at Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) found that 15% of HIV-related philanthropy directly addressed Black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities.

Specifically, in the United States in 2018, HIV-related philanthropy totaled nearly $199,464,000. Of that, about $28,950,000 directly supported BIPOC. Of that amount, 28% was  specifically earmarked for African Americans. This means that 4% of the total U.S. HIV-related philanthropic funding directly addressed the Black community’s needs.

To put this into perspective, African Americans made up 13% of the U.S. population in 2018 but accounted for 42% of the 37,832 new HIV diagnoses that year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (For more insight, see the POZ Basics on HIV and African Americans.)

Each year, FCAA releases a report looking at private HIV funding. The Black Lives Matter movement and COVID-19 disparities affecting BIPOC communities, inspired FCAA to analyze the data in its most recent report and explore HIV funding for these minority communities. The new FCAA data analysis is titled “Philanthropy for Black, Indigenous and People of Color Communities (2018),” and infographics from the findings are embedded throughout this article.

Read the full article here.