National HIV Testing Day: Public-Private Partnership Successes

In June, the federal government and stakeholders across the nation commemorated National HIV Testing Day. I was heartened to hear about many events in local communities involving state and local governments, community organizations, advocates, and others. I particularly want to share examples of activities that private companies in the U.S. Business Action to End HIVExit Disclaimer undertook to raise awareness about HIV, including the creation of the National HIV Testing Day Playbook for EmployersExit Disclaimer.

• AvalereExit Disclaimer President Elizabeth Carpenter sent a company-wide message announcing Avalere’s membership in U.S. Business Action to End HIV, shared the latest facts about HIV, and connected employees with HIV testing resources and locations.
• Avita Care SolutionsExit Disclaimer shared practical tips for covered entitiesExit Disclaimer to help them innovate their outreach efforts and drive community engagement at their HIV testing events.
• Gilead SciencesExit Disclaimer sponsored community activations and HIV testing events in partnership with local HIV community-based organizations and community coalitions in Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, and New York City. These events and HIV testing messages encouraged communities to learn more about HIV testing and were amplified through robust local media coverage. Additionally, Gilead published an article in partnership with HuffPostExit Disclaimer (and associated subpages Queer Voices, Latino Voices, and Black Voices) highlighting HIV testing as a crucial step in helping to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S., and encouraging the public to seek HIV testing information resources through Gilead’s Press Play Testing campaignExit Disclaimer. 
• HealthvanaExit Disclaimer supported 40 sexual health clinics across the U.S. through marketing and communications campaigns to raise awareness about the free HIV testing they are offering on National HIV Testing Day.
• Match GroupExit Disclaimer worked with KFF’s Greater Than HIVExit Disclaimer initiative to develop in-kind custom messages that ran across dating apps BLK and Chispa to raise awareness about National HIV Testing Day, highlight the importance of HIV testing, and connect users to information about HIV and HIV testing locators. The messages performed above benchmark goals and connected tens of thousands of users to HIV testing resources.
• Paramount PicturesExit Disclaimer honored National HIV Testing Day by sending a company-wide email highlighting its corporate commitment to HIV and announcing its membership in the U.S. Business Action to End HIV coalition.
• ViiV HealthcareExit Disclaimer participated in National HIV Testing Day by relaunching the “Me In You, You In Me” campaign across social media platforms and discussing how: 1) National HIV Testing Day is a great time to get tested, and 2) HIV prevention is the first step of knowing your status. ViiV also highlighted Dr. Kim Smith, Senior Vice President, Head of Research & Development, across social media channels who shared, “HIV Testing isn’t about risk…it’s about your reasons for prioritizing your sexual health.” 

In addition to those events, Walgreens, Walmart, and CVS also participated in events for National HIV Testing Day and reemphasized their ongoing work to expand services available at community pharmacies. My hope is that these actions have educated people about the importance of HIV testing, brought attention to and normalized information about HIV, and, in turn, lead to decreased HIV-related stigma. I am proud of these companies for their work and look forward to seeing what they do next.