Dec. 11 Listening Session at Ryan White Conference about Next NHAS and NVHAP
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To gather stakeholder input on developing the next editions of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) and National Viral Hepatitis Action Plan (NVHAP), we will be holding a listening session at next week's National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care and Treatment. The conference is sponsored by HRSA's HIV/AIDS Bureau (HRSA/HAB) and is the largest national conference for comprehensive HIV care and treatment providers, Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) recipients, and other stakeholders.
As we shared in a recent blog post, the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health – in collaboration with agencies and offices across HHS and with partners from other Federal departments – has begun the process to develop the updated NHAS and NVHAP. The current NHAS and NVHAP both expire in 2020. Gathering input from a wide range of stakeholders is an important part of updating the strategies because those on the ground often know what works best and what is needed to achieve our goals. Gathering input also helps ensure these remain national strategies with broad support to be used community-wide.
The listening session will be done in partnership with our colleagues from HRSA/HAB and CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. HRSA/HAB, which administers the RWHAP, is one of the federal partners actively engaged in implementing and monitoring the progress of both the NHAS and the NVHAP. Over half of the people living with diagnosed HIV infection in the United States receive services through the RWHAP. The program provides primary medical care, access to essential medication, and/or essential support services. The program is also engaged in a significant effort to eliminate hepatitis C (HCV) coinfection among its clients.
Share Your Ideas and Recommendations
If you are attending the conference, we invite you to join us and share your thoughts. The listening session will be held on Tuesday, December 11, 2018, from 5:00 PM–6:30 PM in Chesapeake 10-11-12 at the conference venue.
To inform the work of updating the NHAS and NVHAP, we want to hear your thoughts about the progress we've made as a nation as well as the challenges and opportunities that have arisen since the current versions of each were released. Your ideas can help shape our national response to HIV and viral hepatitis as we seek to move together as a nation toward the goal of eliminating new infections, improving health outcomes, and reducing deaths related to these diseases in the United States. We welcome ideas on issues including:
- What changes do you think would be important to make to the HIV & Viral Hepatitis strategies?
- What opportunities do you see to further improve the efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, and impact of our national response to HIV and Viral Hepatitis?
- What actions should the Federal government take to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of funding and delivery of HIV and Viral Hepatitis services?
- What monitoring and evaluation methods and tools would you recommend to further improve HIV and Viral Hepatitis efforts?
Read about some of our prior listening sessions, one with state and local health department leaders and another at the 2018 U.S. Conference on AIDS. For details on other upcoming opportunities for stakeholder input into updating these national strategies, follow the blogs on HIV.gov and the HHS viral hepatitis blog.