:: Health News ::

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced awards totaling $23.1 million to expand services at hemophilia treatment centers, improve care for infants with or at risk for sickle cell disease, and support a broad range of maternal and child health (MCH) services.

The awards were made through HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
“Meeting the health care needs of women and children is a vital element of our national effort to promote overall public health,” Secretary Leavitt said. “Funds from these grant programs expand access to services mothers and young people need to lead healthier, more productive lives.”

HRSA’s Hemophilia Treatment Centers program, which made 12 awards worth $5.3 million, supports comprehensive care, including genetic and other counseling, for people with hemophilia and their families. Services are provided through regional networks of centers that specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of hemophilia and related bleeding disorders. Hemophilia is characterized by delayed clotting of the blood that can result in difficulty controlling bleeding after even minor injuries.

Eighteen awards totaling more than $3.8 million will improve services for infants who have or are carriers for sickle cell disease, an inherited red blood cell condition characterized by chronic, severe anemia, infections and periodic pain. Awards will support follow-up services for newborns and their families, including extended family testing, counseling and education. State newborn screening programs, comprehensive sickle cell treatment centers, and health care professionals will link with community-based organizations to provide these services.

The following grants will improve services for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN), support the training and education of MCH professionals and students preparing for careers in public health, enhance understanding of the importance of MCH services, and help women lose weight and improve their health.

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Four cooperative agreements totaling $2 million will collect and interpret data to establish systems of care for CYSHCN and assist State Title V programs, and family and youth leaders in their work at the community level.
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Twelve grants totaling almost $3.6 million, awarded to universities and departments of health, will help states provide health services to CYSHCN that are culturally competent and family-centered. The grants and cooperative agreements support President Bush’s New Freedom Initiative to include CYSHCN in community life by improving their health services.
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Twelve grants worth more than $4.2 million from the MCH Public Health Training Program will support interdisciplinary public health programs that prepare students for MCH careers.
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The new Improving Understanding of MCH and Health Care Issues Program, funded at $2 million, supports five-year projects to help officials of influential governmental, business, professional and health organizations learn more about MCH issues and make better-informed decisions on health care policy affecting women and children.
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A complementary program, Partnerships to Promote Maternal and Child Health, will award grants worth $1.2 million this year to support national organizations in helping their members improve MCH and related public health programs at the national, state and local levels.
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The Healthy Behaviors in Women Program funds four three-year projects totaling almost $600,000 to develop innovative approaches to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity in women by helping women adopt healthier lifestyles. Intervention focuses on women who have limited access to preventive health services and links them with community resources.
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And three grants worth nearly $400,000, awarded through the MCH Distance Learning Grant Program, will support the development, implementation and evaluation of distance education for MCH professionals, who access education courses via computer and video to bolster skills while continuing to work.

Tables containing information on grantees and their FY 2005 awards