The Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy talks about the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and the future

by Miguel Gomez, AIDS.gov Director

Last month I spoke with Chris Collins, Vice President of Public Policy at American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and David Munar, Vice President of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago about their efforts with the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy . The Coalition was founded in September 2007 and is comprised of over 500 organizations and 2,400 individuals.

Chris and David talked about the importance of community involvement during the development of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and it's implementation. The following video highlights that discussion.

Data Academy: Providing Training and Technical Assistance around HIV Data to Ryan White Grantees and Program Staff

By Michelle Samplin-Salgado, AIDS.gov New Media Strategist

We’ve talked a lot about the importance of knowing your audiences and their information needs. Our colleagues at the HIV/AIDS Bureau at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HAB/HRSA) provide training and technical assistance (TA) to Ryan White grantees and program staff about how to manage data. In response to feedback and a process to identify unmet TA needs, HAB/HSRA developed Data Academy , a series of on-demand, web-based training modules about how to collect, use and share data. We spoke to Mira Levinson, Project Director, to learn how and why they developed Data Academy. Here’s what she had to say:

Data Academy is based on feedback we received from Ryan White grantees and program staff about what kinds of support they needed to help manage, report and use their data. We used the POST strategy to figure out exactly what information would be most important to convey, and the most effective way for grantees to access the information.

Meeting the Need

By Kevin Fenton, M.D., Ph.D., FFPH, Director, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, CDC (Cross-posted from Health Protection, Perspectives Blog)

Last week, CDC awarded $42 million to community-based organizations (CBOs) in cities and communities across the nation to support HIV prevention efforts. This funding puts resources directly in the hands of those with cultural knowledge and local perspective—those who have the best chance to reach people who might otherwise not access HIV testing or other prevention services.

These partnerships are a vital part of CDC’s fight against HIV. Community-based organizations are part of the daily fabric of our lives and a critical link to providing HIV prevention services where we live, work, and play.

HHS and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy

By Miguel Gomez, AIDS.gov Director

Dr. Ron Valdiserri

The U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where AIDS.gov is housed, has specific responsibilities for implementing the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). The Strategy is intended to be a roadmap plan for responding more effectively to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States. NHAS identifies a set of priorities and strategic action steps tied to measurable outcomes—and the NHAS Implementation Plan (PDF 723 KB) assigns specific implementation responsibilities to Federal agencies and Departments.

The HHS leaders who will oversee the Department’s NHAS responsibilities are Dr. Howard Koh, the Assistant Secretary for Health, and his designated lead, Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Infectious Diseases. In addition, the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA), which reports directly to the HHS Secretary, has a significant role in monitoring and evaluating the NHAS.*

New Media and the 2010 National Gay Men's Health Summit

By Miguel Gomez, AIDS.gov Director

Later this month, the 2010 National Gay Men’s Health Summit (GMHS 2010) will take place August 25-30 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. According to the recently released National HIV/AIDS Strategy, “Gay and bisexual men have comprised the largest proportion of the HIV epidemic in the United States since the first cases were reported in the 1980s, and that has not changed. They still comprise the greatest proportion of infections nationally.” Today, gay and bisexual men of all races are the only group in the United States where the estimated number of new HIV infections is rising annually (PDF 387 KB).