Ending the HIV Epidemic
Approximately 1.2 million people in the United States are living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). An alarming thirteen percent of this population are unaware of their HIV diagnosis and have not sought out any counseling or testing. Since the only way to confirm an HIV diagnosis is through testing, this poses a personal and public health risk.
To address this pressing public health issue, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative in February 2020. The primary focus of this initiative is to invest critical scientific knowledge and financial resources in high-risk communities for HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of HIV/AIDS. More specifically, one of the primary goals of this EHE Initiative is to reduce the number of HIV infections by 75% by 2025 and by 90% by 2030.
Ending the HIV Epidemic: It Begins with Data and a Conversation Webinar Series
The WVPCA, HITEQ, MAAETC, and Gilead presented an exciting five-part webinar series to assisted health centers with preparing to meet the goal of the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative by sharing useful strategies both with data/HIT and clinical interventions. You can find the presentation material and recordings below:
The State of HIV Care in West Virginia: Where are we now? - Passcode: StateofHIV1!
Resources for Primary Care Providers
Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative aims to reduce the number of new HIV infections in the United States by at least 90 percent by 2030 with the goal of decreasing the number of new HIV infections to fewer than 3,000 per year. Reducing new infections to this level would essentially mean that HIV transmissions would be rare and meet the definition of ending the epidemic.
The MidAtlantic AIDS Education and Training Center (MA AETC)
The MA AETC provides HIV/AIDS education, consultation, technical assistance and resource materials to health care professionals throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia.
National Clinician Consultation Center
This program provides free, peer-to-peer, expert advice for health professionals on HIV prevention, care, and treatment and related topics.
National HIV Curriculum
This program provides ongoing, up-to-date HIV training and information for health professionals through a free, web-based curriculum; also provides free CME credits, CNE contact hours, CE contact hours, and maintenance of certification credits.
STD/HIV Prevention and Training Center at Johns Hopkins
The STD Prevention Training Center at Johns Hopkins offers affordable clinical training for healthcare providers in the public and private sectors who offer sexual and reproductive health services. They offer a variety of courses. These classes are offered to providers seeing patients in the District of Columbia and the states of Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
This dedicated HIV website provides a multitude of resources for healthcare professionals and patients.
Ready, Set, PrEP
The Ready, Set, PrEP program provides free PrEP HIV-prevention medications to thousands of people living in the United States including tribal lands and territories who qualify. It expands access to PrEP medications to help reduce the number of new HIV transmissions and bring us one-step closer to ending the HIV epidemic in the United States.
Fenway Health
Fenway Health is a national model in caring for the underserved lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Fenway has extensive expertise in HIV/AIDS care and has the largest panel of HIV/AIDS patients in New England. Its research division, The Fenway Institute, is a national center in LGBT health research and education, training and education, and policy and advocacy.