On the Horizon
Dr. Amy Lansky, Director, Office of National AIDS Policy, The White House
From AIDS.gov
The next few months are an important time for our community to gather, reflect on the progress of recent years, and continue moving forward. With many opportunities to connect, Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) will continue to emphasize the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and we’re seeking to highlight activities that are bringing us closer to our national goals.
Since last year, when we up-dated the Strategy through 2020 and released the Federal Action Plan, Federal agencies have been implementing nearly 100 action items in 2016 alone. We also know that those of you outside the Federal government—people living with HIV, service providers, health department staff, and advocates—are also working to serve your communities best by applying the Strategy to your work.
We want to hear about how YOU are implementing the Strategy! ONAP is looking to highlight innovative work aligned with the Strategy that improves how you reach your communities and make progress towards the goals. In 150-200 words, send us your stories here by Friday, Sept. 30. You are encouraged to use our Community Action Plan Framework to help align your submission with a particular Goal, Step, or Recommended Action of the Strategy.
This week ONAP will participate at the 20th U.S. Conference on AIDS (USCA) in Hollywood, Fla. This is another chance to see how communities, local agencies, and people living with HIV are responding to the calls of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy to reach those especially affected by HIV. As with past USCA conferences, ONAP is proud to organize a Federal session with our colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Resources and Services Administration, and Department of Housing and Urban Development, which will high-light collaborations between these agencies and successes from their grantees in implementing the Strategy on the ground.
And as we enter the fall, ONAP will continue to work closely with all of our partners in the Strategy’s Federal Inter-agency Workgroup (FIW) to ensure we meet the commitments set in the Federal Action Plan. As FIW co-chairs, Dr. Rich Wolitski and I have focused discussions around Federal actions to address the Strategy’s four key areas of focus and key populations [PDF 604 KB]. At our next meeting in early September, the FIW will continue to discuss pressing issues such as disparities facing gay and bi-sexual men (noting that National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is coming up), and the topics of the Strategy’s developmental indicators: PrEP use, HIV stigma, and HIV among transgender people. All this and more will be included in the annual progress report on Strategy implementation, to be released on World AIDS Day.
In the meantime, I look forward to seeing many of you at the meetings to come, and hearing your many stories of success.
