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.
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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.
“AIDS in America” Organizations Deliver Letter to President
The following is a letter delivered to President Obama from 18 national HIV/AIDS organizations encouraging the inclusion of four key elements in the final development of a National HIV/AIDS Strategy.
April 20, 2010
The Honorable Barack Obama
The White House
Washington. D.C.
Dear Mr. President,
As leaders of national organizations that have come together under the “AIDS In America” umbrella, we thank you for your commitment to the development of a National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States and for the progress that has been made on its development. We understand that the federal interagency work group is expected soon to make its recommendations on the Strategy to the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP). As the White House reviews the recommendations of the interagency work group and crafts a National HIV/AIDS Strategy for addressing the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic, we would like to offer four key elements which we believe must be reflected in a Strategy for it to be successful.
White House Taking Comments on NHAS through Monday, November 23rd
The Office of National AIDS Policy website now shows that comments will be taken on the National HIV/AIDS Strategy through Monday, November 23rd.
Please take this opportunity to weigh in on one of the most important domestic policy discussions to take place in recent years.
White House will facilitate community access to panel drafting National HIV/AIDS Strategy
The interagency federal panel that will draft the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the U.S. will meet with community representatives, said Greg Millett of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) at a recent meeting sponsored by the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy.
The announcement is welcome news, as Jeff Crowley, ONAP director, has made clear that the interagency panel writing the nation’s first comprehensive HIV/AIDS plan would be comprised solely of officials from relevant federal agencies and departments. The Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy, which has advocated for a National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) since 2007, wrote Mr. Crowley earlier this year to urge the White House to create meaningful roles for community representatives to shape the plan. A coalition of women’s HIV/AIDS advocates also urged Crowley to make direct community involvement in shaping the plan a priority. While short of the request to include community members among the plan's drafters, news that the panel will meeting with community representatives is a new and positive development.
Click below to read more.