How HIV Prevention Has to Change
By Chris Collins, 
amfAR
Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has included the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic on his short list of "winnable battles" in public health. But without important changes in the way our country addresses HIV/AIDS, in five years the annual rate of 56,000 new infections is more likely to grow than to decline.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that HIV prevention can be effective. Community-driven and publicly funded HIV prevention helped bring the infection rate down dramatically from its peak in the mid-1980s, and prevention programs averted more than 350,000 new infections between 1991 and 2006. And yet the HIV infection rate has not fallen in over a decade and HIV continues to have a devastating impact on the hardest hit communities, including gay men, African Americans, and Latinos.
President Obama's National HIV/AIDS Strategy, released in July, s
ets the worthy goal of reducing HIV infection by 25% over five years. It pledges reforms in the U.S. approach to AIDS, including improved coordination, accountability, and targeted use of resources for populations most at risk. These are all critically important measures, but alone are not sufficient to reach the President's Strategy goals. To do that we'll need systemic change in HIV prevention. Here are some of the priorities:
Group develops implementation recommendations for HIV prevention
The HIV Prevention Action Coalition (HPAC) recently developed implementation recommendations for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which were delivered to the White House and relevant federal agencies.
Working Group Calls for Innovative AIDS Research Efforts to Support Strategy Implementation
If the U.S. is to make population-level impact on HIV incidence, care outcomes, and health disparities in the next several years - as called for in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy - expanded investment in implementation science research across federal agencies is necessary. Learn about the HIV/AIDS research recommendations advanced by a working group to support efforts to reach the goals and targets identified in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Download the recommendations here.
Working group develops recommendations for NHAS operational plans
With President Obama’s release of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) in July, the government is now focused on implementation. This includes a directive from President Obama to various federal agencies to develop operational plans by December 9, 2010, describing the steps they will take to fully implement the Strategy.
The agency operational plans are the next critical test of the government’s determination to deliver on the Strategy’s goals and objectives. The plans must be detailed, comprehensive, and ambitious to have their intended impact galvanizing needed actions implementing the Strategy.
To inform agency operational plans, a working group of individuals who have been advocating for an effective Strategy over the last several years developed recommendations to set the Strategy on a ready course to meet its goals. The working group recommends that operational plans address at least three critical aspects to ensure success:
- Funding: Estimates of needed resources, more strategic allocation of current resources, and a commitment to marshal new resources
- Impact: High-yield activities capable of delivering tangible results
- Management: System changes that improve coordination, transparency, and accountability
The National HIV/AIDS Strategy represents a significant step forward in the response to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic. To accomplish the Strategy’s worthy goals, federal officials must signal a serious commitment to improve outcomes with specific and ambitious implementation plans. Read the full paper here.
Join the Strategy Webinar: Tues., Sept 7 at 6PM ET
Moderator Brook Kelly, JD
Nearly two hundred people tuned into the National HIV/AIDS Strategy webinar on September 2 that featured presentations from federal officials and AIDS advocates and a moderated question-and-answer session. Streaming video of the session will be posted soon. In the meantime, review the presenters' slides.
Don't despair if you missed the session. Everyone is invited to tune into the second webinar taking place on Tuesday, September 7, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. EST.
To join, please call 1-888-466-9845 and enter passcode 6811232# when prompted. To follow the presentations, please CLICK HERE or copy and paste the following link into your web browser https://www.conferenceplus.com/confcenter/meeting_center/meeting_center.aspx?100512&jnhst=N&o=UMlXqNXuqwXeGr.