[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 202 (Wednesday, October 20, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61678-61679]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-23434]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30 Day-05-0448]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at (404) 498-1210 or send an email to 
[email protected]. Send written comments to CDC Desk Officer, Human Resources 
and Housing Branch, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 
Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-6974. Written comments 
should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    The Minority HIV/AIDS Research Initiative: Access to HIV Care and 
Testing in the Rural South--New--The National Center for HIV, STD, and 
TB Prevention (NCHSTP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
(CDC).

Background

    CDC is requesting from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a 
2-year approval to administer a survey to local health departments and 
testing sites. As part of the Minority HIV/AIDS Research Initiative 
(MARI), CDC is funding a study that examines access to HIV care and 
testing in the rural South. The objectives of the study are twofold: 
(1) Determine the local availability of HIV counseling and testing, and 
identify HIV treatment venues (HIV doctor or clinic) in non-urban 
counties in the South, and (2) provide information to improve the 
availability of testing and treatment in the South.
    Identifying barriers to accessing care in the South is relevant to 
selected goals and objectives in the CDC's ``HIV Prevention Strategic 
Plan Through 2005.'' This plan identifies the goal to increase from the 
current estimated 70% to 95% the proportion of HIV-infected people in 
the United States who know they are infected through voluntary 
counseling and testing. CDC plans to meet this goal by: (1) Increasing 
the motivation of at-risk individuals to know their infection status 
and decrease real and perceived barriers to HIV testing; and (2) 
improve access to voluntary, client-centered counseling and testing 
(VCT) in high seroprevalence communities and populations at risk, 
focusing particularly on populations with high rates of undiagnosed 
infection. This study is relevant to the goals of CDC's Strategic Plan 
for 2005 and the Advancing HIV Prevention Initiative (AHP) to reduce 
barriers to HIV testing that impede those at risk from receiving HIV 
prevention services. Moreover, this study complements the AHP by 
providing the local service systems with a current visual depiction of 
HIV testing barriers in rural counties that will help address 
programming concerns to ultimately improve access to HIV testing and 
prevention services.
    A sample from 325 counties will be selected from ten U.S. Southern 
states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia). Census Bureau 
Statistical Area data were used to identify 325 rural counties within 
the 10 Southern states that meet the definition of a non-metropolitan 
statistical area and/or cluster with a population of less than 50,000. 
There will be two phases to the survey of the rural counties. The first 
phase will be based on quantitative survey design, while the second 
will use qualitative face-to-face, one-on-one interviewing techniques.
    During the initial phase, the following will be contacted and 
surveyed from each county: (a) Local Health Department; (b) two HIV 
testing & counseling venues; and (c) two HIV treatment sites. This will 
result in a total of 2,275 contacts over a 2-year period. To help 
reduce burden, respondents will be interviewed by survey over the 
telephone using a Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) 
technology. Telephone surveys will take approximately 30 minutes to 
complete, and will be limited to the absolute minimum number of 
questions required for the intended use of the data.
    CDC has contracted this study to an Alliance Quality Education 
organization

[[Page 61679]]

to provide support costs for data collection and analysis. There is no 
cost to respondents except for their time. The estimated annualized 
burden is 570 hours.

                                             Annualized Burden Table
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                                                                                     Number of    Average burden
                           Respondents                               Number of     responses per   response  (in
                                                                    respondents     respondent         hrs.)
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(1) Health Department Workers...................................             163               1           30/60
(2) HIV Counseling and Testing Site.............................             488               1           30/60
(3) HIV Treatment Site Workers..................................             488               1           30/60
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    Dated: October 12, 2004.
Alvin Hall,
Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 04-23434 Filed 10-19-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P