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HEALTH AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO) Established in 1987, the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO) is the most recently created division within the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. The division's mission is to develop strategies to prevent the transmission of HIV disease in Philadelphia and to ensure proper care for those community residents already infected. In 1999, AACO was responsible for administering and disbursing over $16 million in federal Title 1 funds for treatment and care of persons living with AIDS in Philadelphia and its surrounding areas. In addition, AACO also manages funds from the City of Philadelphia General Funds and Center for Disease Control for services to Philadelphia residents. AACO efforts also include prevention and education services as well as enhanced behavioral counseling and the implementation of the HIV Prevention Continuum in 1999. The Continuum, the result of an intensive community-based planning process, serves as a new model for delivery of HIV prevention services. As part of this program, 45 community-based agencies of primarily minority providers serve high-risk populations and provide prevention programs. Approximately 22,000 people living in Philadelphia and its eight surrounding Pennsylvania and New Jersey counties are HIV-positive. More than 16,000 cases of AIDS have been reported in that same area over the past 15 years including over 11,000 cases in Philadelphia. |
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