USCHA 2024 - Federal Update on HIV Programs & Syndemic Approach

HIV.gov continued its livestreams from the 2024 US Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA)Exit Disclaimer in New Orleans on Friday. Kaye Hayes, MPA HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Infectious Disease and Director of the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy, spoke withExit Disclaimer her federal colleague, Heather Hauck, MSW, LICSW Deputy Associate Administrator, HIV/AIDS Bureau, Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) about her key takeaways regarding the Federal Institute: A Federal Update on HIV Programs and Taking a Syndemic Approach. The session brought together federal partners to discuss important federal HIV programs and efforts to implement a syndemic approach to address the HIV epidemic in the U.S. WatchExit Disclaimer their conversation.

During the session, each agency offered an update on their HIV programs and how they take a syndemic approach to their work. They also discussed best practices, challenges, and solutions. Heather shared that the Federal Institute session charged the various agencies with “taking back [these conversations] and figuring out where those opportunities are and what we do to further the syndemic approach,” she said. Kaye then asked Heather about next steps regarding this approach and what could be done differently. Heather highlighted the 2030 vision of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, administered by HRSA, which assists low-income people with HIV regarding their care, medications, and support services to retain them in care. Heather lauded the success of the program to date, saying, “We have over 566,000 people in the program, which are over half of all people with diagnosed HIV in the country [of which nearly] 90% have reached viral suppression.” Regarding specific next steps for the program, Heather said, “What we have to do next […] is reach the estimated 220,000 people who are out of care, because those are the folks who are not reaching viral suppression […]. That is the way we’ll end the epidemic.”

As their conversation ended, Kaye asked Heather to discuss her key takeaway message from the session. Heather emphasized the importance of engaging with the community and continuing partner collaboration at local, federal, jurisdictional, and individual levels. “There’s absolute wisdom in our community, and we cannot get this work done unless we collaborate at all levels of our systems […] Reaching out across and forming those partnerships and collaborating is the key to the work that we need to get done,” she said.

Organized by NMAC, the 28th Annual USCHA is being held Sept. 12-15 and features sessions on HIV in the South, aging, biomedical interventions, stigma, and more. Follow all our conversations from USCHA 2024 on FacebookExit Disclaimer, YouTubeExit Disclaimer, and HIV.gov.