42 U.S.C. § 300ff–53 — Preferences in making grants

(a) In general — When awarding grants under section 300ff–51, the Secretary must give preference to qualified applicants facing a growing burden of providing HIV/AIDS services, as measured by the factors in (b). (b) Specification of factors — For the area an applicant serves, over the two years before its application, the Secretary considers: the number of HIV/AIDS cases; how fast that number is rising; the lack of available early intervention services; the number of other sexually transmitted disease cases, tuberculosis cases, drug-abuse cases, and cases of people co-infected with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B or C; how fast those numbers are rising; the lack of primary health services from other providers; and how far the area is from the nearest community with adequate HIV-related services, and how long that trip takes. (c) Equitable allocations — The Secretary must spread these preferences equitably between urban and rural areas. (d) Certain areas — Among applicants who qualify for a preference, the Secretary must further favor those that will spend the grant on early intervention in rural areas, and must further favor areas that are underserved with respect to these services.