CityMatCH is pleased to conclude our cooperative agreement, Eliminating Perinatal HIV Transmission: An Urban Strategy. This three year partnership (2002-2005) with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, built upon the success and lessons learned from our 1999-2002 cooperative agreement, Preventing Perinatal Transmission of HIV in U.S. Cities.
In this partnership, CityMatCH disseminated information on the epidemiology, new science and best practices of perinatal HIV prevention to urban MCH and HIV leaders and their local partners. We continued to foster collaborative cross-city learning, targeting selected urban communities. We invited additional communities identified as having the highest rates of perinatal HIV transmission to become involved in an Urban Learning Network (ULN). We enhanced and adapted strategies, models and tools to address pockets of need in selected urban communities, reached hardest to reach urban women and better understood individual cases of perinatal HIV morbidity and mortality.
CityMatCH, in cooperation with the CDC, addressed these priorities through three levels of activity.
Level 1: General Communications established to: 1) disseminate information consistently on perinatal HIV prevention through our rapid FAX network, website and regular CityMatCH publications; 2) expand the range of information distributed to include a series of publications on reaching the hardest to reach women and special periodic mailings of timely information from our national partners; and 3) provide a series of presentations about the prevention of perinatal HIV transmission in urban communities for use at national meetings and other professional venues.
Level 2: Urban Learning Network established to increase information and communication to and among the most affected urban areas about perinatal HIV prevention. Participants in the Urban Learning Network: 1) received city-specific HIV/AIDS case rates, related surveillance data and emerging prevention strategies; 2) engaged in electronic cross-city networking for peer exchange; 3) had special opportunities to partner with the 10 original Urban Learning Cluster cities around key multi-city projects; and 4) attended pre-conference or conference workshops and/or skills building sessions at the annual CityMatCH Urban Maternal and Child Health Leadership Conferences.
Level 3: Urban Prevention Collaborative launched in the Spring of 2003 as a modification and enhancement of the current Urban Learning Cluster. The Urban Prevention Collaborative (UPC) was designed to further strengthen capacity, foster team-based shared leadership and promote greater systems integration between MCH and HIV. Special working groups from the UPC had the opportunity to conduct feasibility studies on select issues and reported findings and national recommendations to national partners.
This cooperative agreement has been an essential part of achieving our mission at CityMatCH: Improving the health and well-being of urban women, children and families by strengthening the public health organizations and leaders in their communities.
