The Black Treatment Advocates Network

Black Americans represent 12 percent of the U.S. population; yet, black Americans remain disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS in that they remain the least in care. To address these severe and persistent disparities in treatment outcomes and to help strengthen black Americans' link to care, Merck established a partnership in 2010 with the Black AIDS Institute (BAI) to help expand the Black Treatment Advocates Network (BTAN), a program within the black American community designed to activate Black HIV/AIDS patient populations, mobilize care and develop treatment advocates at the local and national levels to:

• Support the link to the healthcare system and the bridge into quality care
• Dispel myths about care and treatment
• Engage the community in a knowledgeable way
• Mobilize peer advocacy
• Participate within a network of Black advocates that can support each other

"Everyone Has a Story"

In the United States, women account for more than one-quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. Among Black Americans, 1 in 30 women will receive a positive HIV diagnosis at some point in their lifetime. In 2009, Merck established a partnership with SisterLove to develop a mini documentary and educational HIV/AIDS treatment and care resource, "Everyone Has a Story," which features interviews with HIV-positive women speaking about the challenges of HIV and how they seek to overcome them in their daily lives. The resource gives the HIV/AIDS community a unique new tool to bring HIV-positive women critical information and support, and help improve treatment access and adherence among women of color.

Treatment Education Training Program

Since 2009 Merck has supported the AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) three-day training program which brings together a diverse range of allied healthcare professionals (AHCPs) in Los Angeles, California and Tucson, Arizona to learn up-to-date information on key topics in HIV treatment and care. The program helps to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in the timely access to HIV primary care and increases the capacity of AHCPs to deliver accurate HIV treatment information to patients.

"You Are Not Alone"

With Merck's support, Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) develops culturally competent resources to help empower HIV-positive men under the age of 25 who have sex with men (MSM) and HIV-positive women of color of all ages to access care and treatment services and to increase awareness about the importance of medical care, treatment and treatment adherence.

HIV Wellness Educational Series

Positively Aware—a national publication published by Test Positively Aware Network (TPAN) provides HIV treatment education to its readers. Merck's support of the HIV Wellness Educational Series helps to educate readers about approaches to improve or prevent comorbidities, and inform patients, providers and the general public about important quality of life issues.