December 1 is World AIDS Day. The 2022 theme is Putting Ourselves to the Test: Achieving Equity to End HIV.
Evidence of Equity: The Data
Equity is the buzzword of the day but has been a principle of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) since its inception in 1990. Tangible outcomes are evident in the data. From 2010, when client level data were first collected by the Ryan White program, to 2021, viral suppression rates have improved across the board and disparities have narrowed considerably. In 2021, 89.7% of RWHAP clients receiving RWHAP medical care were virally suppressed, according to the RWHAP Annual Client-Level Data Report, 2021 (HRSA, 2022).
Equity and Ending the HIV Epidemic
TAP-in: Technical Assistance Provider-innovation network is the HRSA-funded technical assistance and training project that supports Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) jurisdictions. In 2022, TAP-in unveiled its Imagine: Ending HIV. It’s Possible campaign, which seeks to build staff and local health department leadership as they work to reduce the number of new HIV infections by 90% by 2030 under the EHE initiative. Among the campaign resources are videos and fact sheets highlighting successful HIV intervention strategies, shareable social media content, blogs, articles, and webinars.
Learn more about HRSA EHE activities under the RWHAP and HRSA Health Centers.
Further Building Equity: Resources
- RWHAP COMPASS Dashboard: Tracks progress and disparities.
- Access, Care, and Engagement Technical Assistance (ACE TA) Center: Helps link clients to health care insurance coverage.
- CQII Create + Equity Collaborative: Helps RWHAP recipients find and address inequities in their programs through clinical quality improvement activities.
- Planning Councils and Planning Bodies: Ensure meaningful community involvement in making decisions about use of RWHAP resources.
- People with HIV and Community Involvement: Best practices for consumer involvement in planning, consumer advisory boards, and as paid staff in HIV care programs.
- ELEVATE: Training for people with HIV to meaningfully engage and take on leadership roles in planning bodies, advocacy actions, and the HIV workforce.
- ESCALATE: Training for agencies to address internalized and externalized HIV-related stigma.