On March 6, Alliance Healthcare Foundation announced its selection of the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation (SDHDF) as the next convener of the San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative .

“We are confident that SDHFC will continue to play an important role in funding critical programs for those affected by HIV/AIDS, and Alliance is pleased to be a member of the Collaborative,” Alliance Healthcare Foundation’s President and Chief Executive Officer Karma Bass said.

The collaborative consists of funders and community members who raise, leverage and allocate funds to reduce the impact of HIV in San Diego. Alliance Healthcare Foundation has served as convener of the collaborative since 1997.

“[Alliance Healthcare Foundation] went through a very thoughtful process, and they are going to be financially supporting it for the next three years,” Tony Freeman, the SDHDF’s executive director said. Alliance Healthcare Foundation is awarding SDHDF a three-year grant to support the program.

As convener of the collaborative, the SDHDF will raise funds from the local and national GLBT community and will give grants to assist grantees with technical support. Since 1990, SDHFC has raised and re-granted $4.2 million to programs within the San Diego region’s HIV/AIDS service system.

“The one thing that really struck me in working with the collaborative is that 85 percent of the cases of HIV in San Diego are a result of men having sex with men,” Terry Cunningham, Chief of San Diego’s Health and Human Services Agency’s HIV, STD and Hepatitis Branch said. “I think the Human Dignity Foundation’s mission is to help improve the quality of life for the LGBT community. The HIV-funding collaborative is a good fit for our mission, and it’s a really important program.” In 2008, 38 percent of HIV cases in San Diego were in the 20 to 39 age group, followed by 33 percent of those 20 to 29.

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV weakens a person’s ability to fight infections. An AIDS diagnosis is given when the HIV-positive patient develops certain infections, cancers, or when their CD4 count is lower than 200. CD4 counts are determined by a blood test from a doctor.

According to the San Diego County Office of Health and Human Services, through December 2007, males comprised 92 percent of the AIDS diagnoses in San Diego County.

“The Alliance is changing their methods of operations. I think it’s going to be a very good move, a very thoughtful move. Funding will continue,” Freeman said.

The San Diego Human Dignity Foundation was established in 1996 to improve the quality of life within San Diego’s GLBT community. Alliance Healthcare Foundation was established in 1988 as a private, nonprofit foundation to increase access to health care for medically under-served populations.