The purpose of the Delta Comprehensive HIV Prevention (DCCHPP) program is to reduce HIV/STD health disparities in the Mississippi by taking a holistic approach to HIV prevention and treatment that includes identifying those at risk for HIV, those persons with HIV and linking them to prevention and treatment services, providing community outreach and education, providing culturally specific training to local health care providers, and enhancing social support systems. The target group for of this program will be individuals between the ages of 13 and 45 in Bolivar, Coahoma, Sunflower and Washington counties in the Mississippi Delta.

SOCIO ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO REDUCING HIV STIGMA IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA

Racism, poverty, and homophobia can be formidable obstacles to testing and treatment, particularly for MSM in the South. More than half the new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. were in Southern states, where gay and bisexual black men make up a disproportionate share of people with HIV. These groups also continue to face stigma and discrimination based on their actual or perceived health status, race, socioeconomic status, age, sex, sexual orientation, or gender
identity or other grounds. The goal of this multilevel intervention is to utilize the socioecological model to create and pilot an integrated approach to reducing HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the Bolivar, Coahoma, Sunflower, and Washington counties in the Mississippi Delta.