HRSA Awards More Than $4.4 Million in Grants to Enhance Services
for Newborns with Sickle Cell Disease and Improve Women’s Health

The Health Resources and Services Administration has announced a total of $4,447,157 in grants from to improve support for newborns with Sickle Cell Disease, coordinate women’s health activities, and screen pregnant women for alcohol use.

“Improving services for women and newborns at the community level is a fundamental part of our mission at HRSA,” said HRSA Administrator Elizabeth M. Duke. “These grants will also help more pregnant women get the screening they need to properly care for themselves and their babies.”

HRSA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, awarded 15 community-based grants and one cooperative agreement through its Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and Newborn Screening Program. SCD is an inherited red blood cell condition characterized primarily by chronic anemia and periodic episodes of pain. These one-year awards will enhance follow-up services for infants who screen positive for SCD and support community-based efforts to provide SCD-related education and counseling. The Sickle Cell Disease Association of America Inc., a community-based organization, will coordinate and monitor the 15 funded SCD projects as well as provide consultation and technical assistance. SCD projects will partner with state newborn screening programs, comprehensive SCD treatment centers and health care professionals.

Under the Integrated, Comprehensive Women’s Health Services in State Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Program, six state health departments will receive three-year grants to establish a focal point for women’s health activities at the state level. Funds will be used to increase coordination of primary care, boost preventive and mental health services for women with limited access to these services, and build partnerships with community-based organizations, academic institutions, federal, state and local agencies.

Additionally, state agencies in Illinois and Massachusetts will receive $150,000 for each year of a three-year grant program called Replicating Lessons Learned in Alcohol Screening During Pregnancy Demonstration Program. The program will encourage health care providers to screen women for alcohol use during pregnancy, provide women information on the risks of drinking while pregnant, and refer women to intervention services when needed.

All three programs are administered by HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (www.mchb.hrsa.gov).  Tables of SCD project awards, and women’s health and alcohol screening awards follow:

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Note:
All HRSA press releases, fact sheets and other press materials
are available at http://newsroom.hrsa.gov.