Policy Goals: 2009 – 2010

Our policy goals support the Prevention Justice Statement of Principles. This draft policy agenda will be shaped and finalized by our membership during the summer of 2009. Please send any questions, comments or suggestions to Julie Davids or call 212-937-7955 x 70

DOWNLOAD a copy of the document here

The Need: a Paradigm-Shift in HIV Prevention

This paradigm-shift in prevention must address social determinants, such as poverty, that are primary drivers of the epidemic.

Leading public health officials and community activists agree – we need a paradigm shift in HIV prevention research and policy to inform and improve our practices if we are to turn the tide of HIV transmission.

Poverty is not only an overriding driver of HIV/AIDS in the United States. It is also a vital issue to be addressed in federal, state and local policies in a time of increased acknowledgement of economic inequity and fiscal crisis.

To achieve this goal, the following steps should be taken:

1) CDC will issue five-year program guidances for both community-based organizations and health departments that reflect principles of HIV prevention justice and economic justice, and that address poverty as a social determinant, including:

•    meaningful incorporation of input from CBOs and constituents, recognizing the need for economic support for data-collection and training on social determinants and structural interventions
•    analysis of social determinants of HIV and resources to prioritize and support corresponding structural interventions
•    integration of behavioral and biomedical interventions, decreased barriers to the collaboration of prevention and treatment providers, and measures to overcome economic barriers to intervention access
•    support for harm reduction strategies for both sexual behavior and drug use
•    economic support and re-training for currently-funded groups to build the capacity to integrate new strategies and interventions, including biomedical interventions
•    a decrease of requirements for using DEBIs
•    combination approaches that bring together various HIV interventions and strategies, including structural interventions, designed to better address pockets of HIV in a particular community or population
•    direction of resources according to HIV incidence, prevalence, and transmission rates

1)    CDC will develop a measurable, outcomes-oriented plan to implement a social determinants framework for the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention that supports the meaningful involvement of HIV and hepatitis-affected individuals and community-based providers to address economic marginalization and poverty, among other issues.

2)    CDC will provide capacity-building services to address the need and desire for community-based organizations and health departments to lead structural interventions for HIV prevention that address economic and other social determinants.

3)    The AIDS community will develop and support robust, national policy campaigns to address the intersection of HIV and incarceration, which not only disproportionately affects low-income and poor people but also furthers economic marginalization. (The PJA will support the efforts of CHAMP’s Project UNSHACKLE in this area)

4)     Health care reform measures must include HIV prevention and address all disparities, including those based on economic or employment status, immigration status, race/ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, and/or disability.

5)     Realistic sexuality education for young people is an economic as well as social imperative. Abstinence-only and marriage promotion programs prey on low-income and poor communities strapped for resources. Funding must be provided to reduce unintended pregnancy and STDs among youth, improve sexuality education, and reach youth and young adults beyond their educational institutions but also in their  communities.


The Method: Research

There must be an increase in strategic and comprehensive HIV prevention research in the United States that:

•    integrates biomedical, behavioral and social interventions,
•    focuses on people of color, women and gay men and transgender people of all races but inclusive of distinct approaches for gay men and transpeople in communities of color, and
•    is designed and led by researchers of color, including LGBTI researchers, and people living with HIV, working in collaboration with community partners

To achieve this goal, the following steps should be taken:

1) The NIH Office of AIDS Research must provide support for the continuation and expansion of comprehensive HIV prevention research in the United States

2) The Division of AIDS of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) must develop a plan to increase the capacity of their clinical trials networks to engage in HIV prevention research in the United States, and integrate this plan into their planning for the next round of clinical trial network re-competition.

3) CDC must provide a database (similar to the NIH CRISP database) that catalogues their HIV prevention research funding.

4) The AIDS community must commit to supporting a new and diverse generation of research advocates (The PJA will support the efforts of CHAMP’s Prevention Research Advocacy Working Group (PRAWG), which recruits, trains and engages directly affected activists to enhance the development of effective, evidence-based HIV/AIDS prevention conducted in and/or funded by the United States.)


The Strategy: Cross-Government Collaboration

The scale and scope of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States calls for a cross-government response that extends beyond the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and that is accountable, measurable and strategic.

To achieve this goal, the following steps should be taken:

1) A results-oriented operational plan for HIV prevention will be a focal area of the National AIDS Strategy (NAS) and will be prioritized in the efforts of the Office of National AIDS Policy at the White House, federal agencies, and Congressional efforts.

2) The 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference will include the following to ensure a broad-base government approach to advance HIV prevention justice:

•    Inclusion in conference planning and conference proceedings of officials from all government agencies with relevant HIV prevention activities, as well as full participation of all relevant divisions of HHS.


•    Government agency cosponsors should have meaningful roles at the conference.  Their involvement must not be in name only.
•    Provision of a “cross-cutting theme” at the conference focused on intergovernmental coordination in HIV prevention.
•    At least one open meeting with conference attendees and officials from relevant government agencies.

3) The FY2011 budget must provide a significant increase in funding for HIV
prevention 

4)    The federal funding ban on syringe exchange must be lifted, and funds must be provided for rapid scale-up of syringe access and supporting harm reduction programs.

5)    The federal government must support a cross-government campaign to visibly combat homophobia and transphobia as a public health measure.  To build the capacity for winning this demand, the AIDS community will link with LGBTQ movements to confront the homophobia, transphobia and gender bias at the core of the epidemic, and to re-integrate HIV/AIDS issues into the LGBTQ health advocacy agenda. (The PJA will support the efforts of the Promo Homo campaign and the National Coalition for LGBT Health)

6)    The Federal government must address the needs of diverse communities of people of color, women and gay men and transpeople of all races (The PJA will support the policy agendas of the Latino AIDS Action Agenda, the U.S. Positive Women’s Network, the National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition, and the Gay Men’s Health Agenda; list in formation)

Our policy goals support the Prevention Justice Statement of Principles. This draft policy agenda will be shaped and finalized by our membership during the summer of 2009. Please send any questions, comments or suggestions to Julie Davids or call 212-937-7955 x 70

DOWNLOAD a copy of the document here

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