Gilead Grants $24M to Improve Access, Care for HIV Communities

Gilead recently announced $24 million in grants to reduce health disparities, improve access to quality healthcare, advance medical education, and support local communities most impacted by the HIV and COVID-19 epidemics.  

The initiative, the Zeroing In: Ending the HIV Epidemic program, will support 116 organizations in 41 countries to help boost at least one of three focus areas: comprehensive HIV innovation, digital health innovation, and community outreach and education.  

The comprehensive HIV programs include at-home testing efforts to close the gaps in HIV testing and prevention and support service programs and HIV prevention programs inclusive of biomedical prevention options.   

The digital health innovations will address the health literacy divide when accessing digital health services and support digital health education for those with language barriers, aging populations, indigenous, migrant, and stigmatized populations.  

Finally, the community outreach and education programs will provide resources for HIV community outreach workers, address the lack of culturally appropriate service options, break down barriers between communities and providers, decrease stigma, and improve HIV education.  

Zeroing In builds on previous Gilead funding and grant programs while supporting organizations to increase the health and wellness of communities most impacted by HIV and COVID-19.  

“While the HIV community has made tremendous progress toward ending the HIV epidemic, the COVID-19 pandemic created barriers and amplified health inequities in the most marginalized communities,” Alex Kalomparis, senior vice president of public affairs at Gilead, said in the announcement.  

“We are working with organizations that will reach under-resourced communities and support them to find innovative, effective solutions. Zeroing In programs aim to increase access to HIV care and services and build on Gilead’s efforts to help end the epidemic for everyone, everywhere,” Kalomparis continued.  

In 2020, there were nearly 37.7 million people globally with HIV. Of these, 36 million people were adults and 1.7 million were children up to 14 years of age. In 1964, FDA approved the first HIV treatment, azidothymidine (AZT). The drug suppressed HIV replication without damaging normal cells and decreased deaths in clinical trials.  

And most recently, FDA approved ViiV Healthcare’s Cabenuva as the first and only complete long-acting injectable HIV treatment in January 2021.  

In a pooled exploratory analysis, 468 of 532 patients (88%) preferred Cabenuva, compared to just 2% who preferred the previous antiretroviral therapy treatment.