National AIDS Strategy’s taking a road trip… to see you!
***UPDATE***
Download this worksheet to help you prepare your town hall testimony!
If you live in Alabama, Washington or Pennsylvania, you're in luck! The White House Office of National AIDS Policy is going on a road trip, and they're coming to see you.
ONAP announced today that registration has opened for three upcoming dialogues on implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Details are below and you can read more and sign up here.
Birmingham: Incorporating Prevention and Care Research Into HIV Programs
Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Time: 2:00 – 4:30 pm
Location: Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center, University of Alabama, B 1200 10th Ave. S. Birmingham, AL
Seattle: Building Capacity within the HIV Workforce so that it Delivers What We Need Today and Tomorrow
Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Time: 5:30 – 8:00 pm
Location: Swedish Medical Center, Glaser Auditorium, 747 Broadway, Seattle, WA
Philly: Sustaining the Community-Based Response to HIV
Date: Thursday, October 20, 2011
Time: 3:00 – 5:30 pm (new time)
Location: University of Pennsylvania, Jon M. Huntsman Hall, Dhirubhai Ambani Auditorium, 3730 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
From the White House…The National AIDS Strategy at One Year
Yesterday, in recognition of the one year anniversary of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, the White House released an Implementation Update to keep us up to speed on the latest work (read it here), and this really cool video (watch it here)!
AIDS.gov: HHS consults community on funding to implement the Strategy
Many of you asked the $64,000 questions when the National HIV/AIDS Strategy was released: "How's it going to be funded?"
You asked, and President Obama responded. In the budget the President proposed for next federal fiscal year, the Administration asked Congress to set aside 1% of the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) HIV funding for Strategy implementation.
In June 2011, HHS brought together community and government stakeholders recommendations how the implementation funding should be used. A top HHS official, Dr. Ron Valdisari, posted an extensive summary of the meeting over at AIDS.gov. Here's a snippet:
Proposed National HIV/AIDS Strategy Implementation Fund
By Ronald Valdiserri, M.D., M.P.H., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Because the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) is a priority endeavor for the U.S. government, when the President released his Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12) budget proposal in February of this year, he proposed a special fund to support the implementation of the Strategy. If approved, the FY12 Budget Proposal authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to transfer one percent of the department’s domestic HIV/AIDS spending to promote new, collaborative efforts in support of the goals of the NHAS. If approved in the Congressional appropriations process, this would establish a fund of approximately $60 million dollars that would be administered by the Assistant Secretary for Health whose office would work closely with HHS operating divisions, staff offices, and community partners to determine the most strategic ways to use these resources to move us closer toward achieving the goals of the NHAS.
[...]
Consultation on Possible Uses of NHAS Implementation Fund
To begin the process of seeking input, on June 21, 2011, HHS convened some 40 stakeholders (PDF 64KB) from inside and outside of government to discuss principles and priorities that should be considered in the event that these resources become available in FY12. Mr. Jeffrey Crowley, Director of the White House’s Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP), noted at the start of the meeting that the idea for an NHAS Implementation Fund grew out of requests from the community to ensure that resources are available to implement the Strategy.
Obama Launches National HIV/AIDS Strategy
"As we approach thirty years from the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, new actions are needed to prevent HIV infection and better serve people living with HIV. The actions we take now will build upon a legacy of global leadership, national commitment, and sustained efforts on the part of Americans from all parts of the country and all walks of life to end the HIV epidemic in the United States and around the world. I am committed to renewing national leadership to fight HIV/AIDS here at home, as we continue our efforts to fight HIV/AIDS around the world. My Administration has engaged in an extensive process to engage Americans and listen to their ideas for improving our national response to HIV/AIDS.
Today, I am releasing a National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States (Strategy) and a National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Implementation Plan (Federal Implementation Plan), which identifies specific actions to be taken by Federal agencies to implement the Strategy’s goals. While agencies already undertake many actions to address HIV/AIDS, successful implementation of the Strategy will require new levels of coordination, collaboration, and accountability. This will require the Federal Government to work in new ways across agency lines, as well as in enhanced and innovative partnerships with State, tribal, and local governments. Government cooperation at all levels, moreover, is not enough. Success will require the commitment of all parts of society, including businesses, faith communities, philanthropic organizations, scientific and medical communities, educational institutions, people living with HIV, and others. It is also necessary to sustain public commitment to ending the epidemic, and this calls for regular communications between governments at all levels to identify the challenges we face and report the progress we are making."
White House Unveiling the Strategy on Tues., July 13
On Tuesday, July 13, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and White House officials will unveil the Obama Administration's National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Watch the presentation of the plan online at WhiteHouse.gov/live at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Later that day, President Barack Obama will deliver remarks at a White House reception honoring the HIV/AIDS Community. The President's address can also be viewed online at WhiteHouse.gov/live at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Preparing For the Strategy:
On Tuesday afternoon, the Strategy will be posted online at: WhiteHouse.gov/ONAP. To help prepare community members for the announcement, the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy developed this Guide to Communicating about the Strategy, which offers ideas on how to leverage the plan to garner local and national attention to urgent issues in our communities. Other helpful resources include the Gender Monitoring Toolkit and Report Card developed by a coalition of groups to evaluate and monitor the Strategy from a human rights and gender perspective. Moving Beyond the Status Quo summarizes the recommendations of an independent working group for the Strategy to be maximally effective. Other community recommendations for the plan are posted at nationalaidsstrategy.org.
Responses to the Strategy
The Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy will host a community conference call on Tuesday, August 10 at 2:00 p.m. ET to share community reactions to the Strategy, reports on the International AIDS Conference taking place in July in Vienna, and discuss advocacy steps needed to move implementation of the Strategy forward. Stay tuned to this blog for agenda, call-in information, and other details.