PACHA Meeting Examines HIV among Women, Gets Updates on Ending the HIV Epidemic, and Welcomes New Member

The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) held its 66th meeting in Washington, DC, on February 10 and 11, 2020. Among the issues they explored were:

• Progress on and the budget for Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America (EHE) with updates from ADM Brett Giroir, Assistant Secretary for Health, and Dr. Tammy Beckham, Director of the HHS Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy;
• The HIV response in DC, Maryland, and Virginia and cross-jurisdictional collaborations and challenges;
• Lessons learned from the four EHE jumpstart jurisdictions (Baltimore, Md.; DeKalb County, Ga., East Baton Rouge Parish, La., and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma);
• Ending the HIV epidemic among women in the U.S.;
• Update on the U.S role in the global response to HIV from Ambassador Deborah Birx, MD, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator & U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief; and
• Experiences of stigma as a barrier among people living with or at risk for HIV.

The Council welcomed a new member, Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, PhD, MPH, LCSW, ACRN, ANP-BC, AAHIVS, who was sworn in by ADM Brett Giroir, Assistant Secretary for Health. Dr. Guilamo-Ramos is a professor and director of the Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health at New York University and a nurse practitioner in the Adolescent AIDS Program at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. Read more about him.

Resources from the meeting are also now available on HIV.gov:

• View the video of the meetingExit Disclaimer.
• Access the slides from the meeting presentations.
• Read the Council’s resolution in support of the FY21 budget for the  (PDF 63KB).