MAPP receives $20,000 grant

FERNDALE – The Midwest AIDS Prevention Project, one of Michigan's largest HIV education agencies, has won a $20,000 grant from the National HIV Vaccine Communications Campaign to provide information to gay and bisexual men in Michigan. The goal of MAPP's comprehensive project is to increase awareness and knowledge about HIV vaccine programs, and improve perceptions and attitudes toward HIV vaccine research among gay communities in Michigan, with a particular emphasis on Latino gay populations.
"Initial research shows that communities directly impacted by HIV and AIDS are misinformed about HIV vaccines," said Michael Odom, who will coordinate the vaccine project for MAPP. "Nationally, 68 percent of gay men wrongly believe that HIV vaccines being tested today cause HIV in trial volunteers. When people are misinformed, researchers have a less than optimal environment to conduct research that can lead to a safe and effective HIV vaccine."
Through the end of December, MAPP will provide a series of informational activities, including a town hall meeting on May 18, which is HIV Vaccine Awareness Day. MAPP also will include vaccine research information in existing HIV prevention programs, HIV counseling and testing, and peer leader trainings. Finally, MAPP will create a media campaign that will include advertising placement, small media materials distribution, and press relations activities targeting gay communities.
"We're very excited to receive this grant," said Craig Covey, chief executive officer at MAPP. "It's an important project, and we're confident that we will be able to increase our community's understanding of vaccine research."
The National HIV Vaccine Communications Campaign is a project sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Community Education and Outreach Partnership Program, and Ogilvy Public Relations.
Based in Ferndale, MAPP was created in 1988 to address the growing HIV crisis in Michigan. Today, MAPP is one of the state's largest non-profit, community-based organizations whose mission is health promotion, harm and risk reduction, and HIV and sexually-transmitted disease prevention education. MAPP provides hundreds of programs every year addressing HIV, self-esteem, risk reduction, and substance abuse prevention.