None of Company AIDS Grants go to The Alabama Black Belt Communities

     A Pharma Company has awarded $2.3 Million in grants to reduce AIDS in The South, but Alabama gets only one of the 40 grants.

From a Gilead news release:

"The Gilead COMPASS (COMmitment to Partnership in Addressing HIV/AIDS in Southern States) Initiative™ is an unprecedented $100 million commitment over 10 years to support organizations working to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Southern United States. The South is most affected by the HIV epidemic, accounting for 54% of all new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. In response to the Southern HIV epidemic, the initiative focuses on providing concentrated investments in the region to reduce HIV-related health disparities, build awareness, advance education, and reduce stigma. The Gilead COMPASS Initiative™ includes corporate giving programs, independent medical education grants, and the AIDSVu partnership."

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$400k of the $2.3 Million is going to seven Atlanta groups.

Only one  grant is coming to Alabama, to a Birmingham-centered health group called Alabama Regional Medical Services, who's service area does not include any of the Black Belt Counties in Alabama. (I was not able to find the amount of that grant). You can follow the Black Belt Counties on the company map above by looking at the sweep of deep reddish colored counties in Central and West Alabama.

Gilead has committed $100-Million over a decade, so some of the grant money in future years may come to Alabama...and to the hard hit Black Belt. 

Here's the most recent (2018) ADPH report on AIDS in the state.