A federal grant will enable a Eugene non-profit to provide Lane County’s nearly 300 HIV/AIDS-infected residents with
dental care.
The $2 million award allows the HIV Alliance to spend $400,000 a year for five years to run a full-service dental clinic for the organization’s 200-plus patients, the organization’s executive director Diane
Lang said.
Eugene HIV Alliance is the only organization in Oregon and one of 15 demo sites throughout the country that will receive the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) grant.
Lang said inadequate attention to dental care can create dire situations for HIV/AIDS patients because “many of them will deteriorate until medical emergencies.”
HIV Alliance will serve as a model for the Northwest, Lang said. If successful, “it will provide dental needs for almost all HIV patients in all of the southern counties (in Oregon),” she said.
The non-profit group applied for the grant last spring and will work collaboratively with Lane County Community Health Center and Lane Community College to offer dental assessments and care.
“Proper oral care is imperative for HIV/AIDS patients in managing their health,” Senator Gordon H. Smith, R-Ore., said in a press release. “A dental facility specifically for Eugene’s HIV/AIDS population is animportant step in helping to meet this need.”
SPNS works to advance health services for underserved HIV/AIDS populations.