Harold Phillips, MRP, Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, reviewed the U.S. Government's plans and activities for addressing and ending the HIV epidemic. The foundation of these efforts is the latest National HIV/AIDS Strategy or NHAS. The document includes an overall vision, four goals, 21 objectives, 78 strategies, 8 priority populations, and indicators of progress. Among these indicators are new quality of life indicators covering health, mental health, hunger, employment, and housing. Additional NHAS highlights include, for example, attention to racism as a barrier to health care, aging and HIV, and a status-neutral approach to HIV prevention and care services.
Phillips also reviewed the federal implementation plan, a companion to NHAS, which contains action steps for 10 federal departments to undertake to move the strategy forward.
Phillips also summarized a range of federal HIV initiatives. Among them, the I Am a Work of ART Campaign, a national viral suppression campaign that encourages people with HIV who are not in care to seek care, stay in care, and achieve viral suppression through antiretroviral therapy. Phillips also highlighted the federal government's announcement at the AIDS 2022 International Conference of the adoption of U=U, or 'undetectable equals untransmittable' to further guide HIV treatment and prevention efforts. Additionally, Phillips highlighted a recent White House meeting to discuss repeal and reform of state HIV criminalization laws as a strategy to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
In closing, Phillips commented on looking for 'opportunities for innovation' to improve our HIV work: implementing the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program's model of care via implementation science as well as integrating behavioral health services into clinical and community-based service models.