Health Department Publishes Request for Proposal for HIV Testing in Pharmacies

Health Department Publishes Request for Proposal for HIV Testing in Pharmacies

PHILADELPHIA—The Health Department is making four to six grants of up to $75,000 available to increase the availability of low-barrier HIV testing and connection to care services in select priority zip codes in Philadelphia. The request for proposals is part of the Health Department’s community-driven Plan to End the HIV Epidemic in Philadelphia, which envisions decreasing new HIV infections by 75% by 2025 and by 90% by 2030. Grant submissions may be made by applicants who operate pharmacies in the listed priority zip codes, and may address HIV testing, information distribution, linkage to care, and participation in training.

The accessibility of pharmacies for HIV testing presents a unique opportunity for pharmacists to contribute to the identification of undiagnosed HIV. An estimated 90% of urban consumers live within two miles of a pharmacy. A CDC-funded feasibility study offering rapid, point-of-care testing in community pharmacies and retail clinics found that pharmacies and retail clinics represent a vast, largely untapped potential for the delivery of HIV testing in settings that are more accessible and, for some people, less stigmatizing than traditional testing.

With this RFP, the Health Department’s goal is to expand opportunities for HIV testing in neighborhoods in Philadelphia with the highest incidence of persons newly diagnosed with HIV in 2019 through community-based retail pharmacies.

Eligible applicants are independent and non-independent pharmacies currently operating in the priority areas listed in this request for proposals or with appropriate justification and prior approval of the Department in an immediately adjacent ZIP code neighborhood. Based on local analysis of recent data on HIV testing, newly diagnosed HIV, and HIV testing resources by zip code, the Health Department has identified 13 priority zip codes for this RFP.  

To learn more about the request for proposals, all documentation is available on the eContractPhilly website, under Opportunity 21221013101712. The Health Department’s Community Plan to End the HIV Epidemic in Philadelphia can be downloaded here.