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HOW IHS ANNOUNCES $2.4M FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: ENDING THE HIV AND HCV EPIDEMICS IN INDIAN COUNTRY, .... (1805 hits)


For Immediate Release From HIV.Gov!


In April, the Indian Health Service (IHS) announced a funding opportunity for the new Ending the HIV and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Epidemics in Indian Country (ETHIC) program. It is a significant component of IHS’ work under the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S.initiative.

National HIV/HCV Consultant for the IHS, Rick Haverkate, recently joined the HIV.gov team to discuss the funding announcement in a special HIV.gov FYI session.

Watch our conversation with Rick to hear more about this critical step toward achieving the goals of both the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and the Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan for American Indian and Alaska Native people.

WATCH VIDEO HERE!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj5voPljKu...


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Register Now - Live with Leadership: A Conversation About HIV and AIDS Among Women & Girls

HIV.gov is holding an important event, and your registration and participation are highly encouraged. On Tuesday, May 10, from 2:00–2:30 (ET), HIV.gov will host a 30-minute Live with Leadership conversation about the impact of HIV on women and girls.

Register Now!

During the session, federal leaders and members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) will discuss the ongoing work to address HIV among women and girls, including Black and African American and American Indian and Alaska Native populations. Panelists will also acknowledge May as Mental Health Awareness Month and discuss the need to address mental health alongside HIV prevention and care.

The Live with Leadership conversation will be moderated by Kaye Hayes, Acting Director, HHS, OIDP, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, and Executive Director of PACHA. Additionally, the conversation will feature panelists and PACHA members:

Tori Cooper , Director of Community Engagement, Transgender Justice Initiative, Human Rights Campaign.


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Ending Hepatitis is Something We Can All Do Every Day


May is Hepatitis Awareness Month and National Hepatitis Testing Day is May 19. Both observances, as the CDC states, “serve as a time to raise awareness of hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C as major public health threats, while encouraging testing to identify the millions of people living with hepatitis who don’t know it.”

COVID-19 has certainly raised the public’s consciousness of the impact of potentially deadly infectious viruses. Until now, most people probably were most familiar with HIV. But there are other infectious viruses of public health consequence. Approximately 5 million Americans are currently living with chronic hepatitis B or chronic hepatitis C. As a person living with chronic hepatitis B, I am all too familiar with the health consequences of hepatitis, the need for testing, treating, and preventing, and the stigma and discrimination often associated with an infectious disease.

While each infectious disease is different, there are apparent commonalities among them. To determine if someone has one, we need screening and testing. To keep people healthy and alive, we need treatments and if we are lucky enough, cures. To prevent future spread, we need ways to prevent them, including vaccinations.

Scientists have developed the tools to test for the various types of viral hepatitis and help people remain healthy. For hepatitis B there are effective treatments, while work is being done on a potential cure. People can now be cured of hepatitis C after two to three months of daily oral treatment. We know how to prevent hepatitis, and for hepatitis A and B there are even vaccines.

You have heard it said before, “We have the tools to end it.” I would add the saying, “Easier said than done.” To end infectious diseases, we always need more scientific advances, but it is going to take a strategic, coordinated, and resourced public health response.

Fortunately, we now have nationalstrategic plans to end several infectious diseases including viral hepatitis, HIV, and STIs. A strength included in all the plans is a reliance on taking a syndemic approach to these often intersecting epidemics. Together we can get to the finish line faster. While each may have separate funding lines, people on the ground do not see the world through those lenses.

When people get tested for HIV, they should also be tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and other STIs, and vice versa. Those living with HIV and served by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program, Medicaid, or Medicare should be tested for hepatitis B and hepatitis C, vaccinated if unprotected, and if they also have viral hepatitis, treated and cured, as appropriate.

The Indian Health Service is taking a syndemic approach to ending HIV and hepatitis C in Indian Country with their recent funding announcement. And, as our nation confronts drug addiction and overdose, President Biden’s National Drug Control Strategy calls for increased harm reduction programs, including syringe service programs, taking a coordinated approach that acknowledges the benefits of combining HIV and hepatitis prevention, testing, linkage to care, and treatment.

While we highlight May as Hepatitis Awareness Month, and remind people to get tested on May 19th, we should approach our work daily to end viral hepatitis, HIV, STIs, and drug addiction. Only by working together can we meet the goal to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030.

Carl Schmid is the Executive Director, HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute and a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA).

Learn more HERE!: https://www.hiv.gov/blog/ending-hepatitis-...


Laura Platero, JD, Executive Director, Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board .
Kayla Quimbley, National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Ambassador, Advocates for Youth .

You may register here to participate: https://www.hiv.gov/blog/register-now-live...

Past Conversations

The Live with Leadership series provides opportunities to hear directly from key HHS and HIV community leaders about new and ongoing work to further the goals of Ending the HIV Epidemic and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. In 2021, topics included People, Place, Policy, & Science Matter , the 40th Anniversary of HIV, and NIH-funded research.

To receive timely updates on upcoming Live with Leadership sessions and more from HIV.gov, follow our social media channels (Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram ) and sign up for updates.

Posted By: agnes levine
Friday, May 6th 2022 at 12:26PM
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