PACHA Members Want to Hear from Community Members on Monday, March 14

During next week’s virtual Presidential HIV/AIDS Advisory Council (PACHA) meeting, the Council has reserved over two hours for a “PACHA-to-the-People” session to hear from community members from across the nation about several important issues. Please plan to join PACHA to share your ideas, concerns, and/or recommendations on topics including the HIV prevention, National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), and the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative.

The virtual community engagement session will take place on Monday, March 14, 2022, from 12:30 PM – 2:45 PM (ET).

Here’s what PACHA members have said about why this is an important forum:

“As Co-Chair of PACHA I am very proud of our diverse and committed membership and opportunities like this to have open community conversations. Our goal is to directly hear about your priorities, your recommendations, and your voices about how the federal government can work to strengthen HIV prevention and care services in your jurisdiction.” – PACHA Co-chair Marlene McNeese, Houston Health Department

“For PACHA to do its job, it is ESSENTIAL that we hear from those with lived experience and those who are providing services. We embrace the motto: ‘Nothing for us without us.’” – PACHA Co-chair John Wiesman, DrPH, MPH, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“Centering the voices, experiences, and wisdom of the communities we are accountable to is vital to our success in bringing about an end to the HIV epidemic in the United States. Indeed, our goal of ending the HIV epidemic will be impossible to achieve unless people who are living with HIV and members of communities that are most impacted by HIV lead the way forward.” – Justin Smith, MS, MPH, Campaign to End AIDS, Positive Impact Health Centers, and Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta

“The best in patient care outcomes are rooted in partnerships between the patient and their provider, and the community and the health care systems. This was essential in the dramatic progress in the early days of the HIV epidemic and is still true today. P = P (partnerships = progress).” – Mike Saag, MD, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine

“As a volunteer, I hope that my work is less about me than it is about the people who have traversed this space before me and will come after me; for whom I wish to clear a space and contribute to the making of meaning from the voices, hearts, and actions of you my colleagues in this struggle.  These hearing from the community sessions are essential to making this a reality.” – Darrell Wheeler, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Iona College, New York

“‘PACHA-to-the-People’ and hearing from the community is so important because the only way we are going to get to the end of HIV is community-by-community. We need to hear directly from the people about what’s working, what’s not working, and what’s needed to make our ambitious goal of ending HIV in the next decade a reality. I’ve heard many organizations are excited to attend community sessions so that PACHA and the federal government can hear from them directly about what they need to be successful in fighting the multitude of syndemics we are fighting against.” – Raniyah Copeland, MPH, Equity & Impact Solutions, Los Angeles

Join the Conversation

You are invited to virtually join the discussion and provide the Council with feedback on two broad topics: (1) HIV prevention in the context of ending the HIV epidemic and (2) the NHAS and the EHE initiative. Each breakout room will be co-facilitated by PACHA members. You can attend either session or move between them. Many different issues could be explored in each breakout, so to help start the discussion, we invite you to consider sharing your thoughts on:

Breakout Room A: HIV Prevention in the Context of Ending the HIV Epidemic

• HIV prevention for women and adolescent girls
• HIV prevention and support needs for those age 55 and over
• HIV prevention for persons living with substance use and/or mental health disorders
• HIV prevention for LGBTQ+ community
• PrEP assistance programs

Breakout Room B: National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) and the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) Initiative

• How much have you heard/learned about the NHAS and EHE in your state, city, or territory?
• How can implementation of the NHAS and EHE embrace and engage rural communities?
• How can people with HIV and those at risk for HIV be engaged in implementing the NHAS and EHE?
• What NHAS and/or EHE issues should PACHA highlight next for PACHA to capture specific recommendations for HHS?

Please visit www.hhs.gov/live to both view the meeting and to access the link for the “PACHA-to-the-People” virtual community engagement session.