About
The Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) is an executive department of Baltimore City whose vision is to serve as a catalyst for policy development and change in health and human services.
The Bureau of STD/HIV Prevention is a program within Baltimore City Health Department charged with preventing HIV by providing testing, education, and services focused on HIV prevention. The Bureau of STD/HIV Prevention has worked for over 20 years employing a variety of outreach strategies to increase rates of testing for and decrease rates of transmission of HIV, syphilis and other STDs in these high-risk men.
In Baltimore City, MSM are at significant risk of acquiring HIV and syphilis. According the Infectious Disease and Environmental Health Administration, there has recently been a resurgence in the proportion of newly reported HIV cases occurring in MSM in Baltimore, with a near doubling of this proportion from 15% to 30% in the last 5 years. In the BESURE study conducted in Baltimore City in 2004-2005, 40% of MSM who participated in the study were HIV-positive and 62% of HIV-positive individuals were unaware of their status. According to BCHD surveillance data, rates of syphilis are on the rise in Baltimore City in 2010 compared to 2009.
In partnership with BCHD, MICA will develop strategies that engage the HIV-positive African American MSM population in Baltimore City in order to collaboratively design ways to seek and maintain care, stay on their medication, and maintain safe practices to decrease the rate of transmission of HIV, syphilis and other STDs.
Designers
Zak Bickel, Nick Fogarty, Amy Hushen, Olivia Johnson, Alexander Reynolds
Awards
Regional Design Awards Winners 2016: East, Core 77 Design Awards 2016, Greater Good: Social Design Invitational, Shenzhen International Design Festival