Watch Video - Community Health Centers and Their Role in Ending the HIV Epidemic

WatchExit Disclaimer HIV.gov’s latest FYI video with Harold J. Phillips, MRP, Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP). In the video, Mr. Phillips discusses what you should know about the critical role community health centers continue to play in ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S.

Community health centers have been partners in addressing the HIV epidemic since the beginning and have been providing HIV care and treatment services to individuals with HIV for many years. Now, due to increased funding since the launch of the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative, the role of community health centers has expanded, whereby they are now able to provide additional services, such as access to HIV testing, PrEP and PEP, and linkage to care and treatment. For example, a federal partner, the Bureau of Primary Health Care at the Health Resources and Services Administration has funded over 300 health centers to increase access to HIV prevention services, including testing and PrEP. “[Community] health centers [...], given their role in providing primary care services, are also able to provide an array of comprehensive medical services that address things like high blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart disease, and other coexisting conditions that impact people living with HIV,” said Mr. Phillips. 

In the video, Mr. Phillips also discussed recent remarks he offered at the National Association of Community Health Centers’Exit Disclaimer (NACHC) Policy & Issues Forum with CDR Michelle Sandoval-Rosario, DrPH, MPH, Prevention through Active Community Engagement (PACE) Officer, Region 9 Director, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, HHS. He noted that when the EHE initiative launched in Fiscal Year 2020, 195 health centers were funded and now, in Fiscal Year 2023, this has expanded to 302 health centers. Mr. Phillips shared that this Forum “was an opportunity to really thank the health centers for the amazing work that they’re doing, and to tell them that EHE is in the President’s Budget, and we’re looking to continue and accelerate this effort.”

WatchExit Disclaimer the video to hear more from Mr. Phillips about the expanded role of community health centers in ending the HIV epidemic.