2022 National Ryan White Conference Update
The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) is excited to share the 2022 National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care & Treatment (NRWC) is going virtual! Due to the constantly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, HRSA HAB has decided to transition from a hybrid model format and will host the 2022 NRWC virtually. The conference dates will remain August 23-26, 2022, but the times will be adjusted to accommodate different time zones.
The health, well-being, and safety of all of our attendees is the top priority for HRSA leadership. We know many of our Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) recipients and providers have continued to work on the front lines of the COVID-19 response around the country and around the world over these past two years. While we understand that current COVID-19 numbers are trending downward, we understand that the COVID-19 pandemic has been unpredictable over the last several months. With that in mind, HRSA HAB is committed to our RWHAP recipients, providers, planning council members, partner organizations, and the more than half a million clients we serve to take every precaution to reduce any potential COVID-19 risk.
This virtual format will utilize the same Chime platform from our 2020 NRWC, allowing for unlimited conference registration. This means all of our RWHAP recipients, subrecipients, providers, stakeholders, federal partners and staff, planning council members, and people with HIV will have an opportunity to register and participate in the conference. Registration for the 2022 NRWC will open in late March.
Learn more about the 2022 National Ryan White Conference.
Mark Your Calendar – HAB You Heard Webinar: March 22
Please join us for the next HAB You Heard webinar on Tuesday, March 22, from 2:00-3:00 pm ET. For the March monthly update from HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau, we will be joined by a special guest – HRSA’s new Administrator Carole Johnson. The webinar will include important updates about the 2022 National Ryan White Conference, highlight the third anniversary of the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative, and share an important technical assistance resource learning opportunity for all RWHAP recipients. This webinar is open to all Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program recipients, subrecipients, stakeholders, and federal staff. Registration is required to participate.
HRSA Recognizes National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day: March 10
On March 10, HRSA HAB recognized National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD). This is an opportunity to raise awareness about the impact of HIV on women and girls, and encourage discussions about HIV prevention, testing, care, and treatment.
The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) is committed to helping women diagnosed with HIV get the care, treatment, medication, and support services they need. In 2020, 25.9% of RWHAP clients were women, and 89.4% of women receiving HIV medical care were virally suppressed. Viral suppression among women in the RWHAP has increased significantly over the last 10 years—in 2010, 66.3% of women receiving RWHAP medical care were virally suppressed. HRSA HAB recognizes that more work still needs to be done, especially to support Black women and transgender women with HIV. However, we are proud of this progress, which we could not achieve without the dedication of our RWHAP recipients, subrecipients, and stakeholders.
Access interventions and technical assistance tools.
RWHAP Best Practices for Improving HIV Care for Girls and Women
The Best Practices Compilation features emerging interventions that have been successfully implemented in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP)-funded settings. In observation of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on March 10, HRSA HAB recognized University Health’s intervention that employs a peer outreach approach to engage youth and women.
Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Observes National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
On March 20, HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program will observe National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) comprise 0.5 percent of people receiving HIV care from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP). From 2010-2020, viral suppression rates among AI/AN RWHAP clients receiving medical care improved significantly, from 70.4 percent to 86 percent.
Read more and access resources focused on the AI/AN population.
Share Best Practices for Providing Care/Services for People with HIV in Native Communities
The Best Practices Compilation features emerging interventions that have been successfully implemented in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP)-funded settings. To recognize National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on March 20, HAB is encouraging RWHAP recipients to share innovations for improving HIV care continuum outcomes for American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians.
Share strategies and approaches.
2iS Funding for Innovative Interventions to Improve the Health Outcomes of People with HIV: Deadline Extended to March 11
It’s the last day to submit an application for HRSA HAB’s new Using Innovative Intervention Strategies to Improve Health Outcomes Among People With HIV, or 2iS, funding opportunity. The application deadline has been extended through today, March 11. Awards of up to $190,000 annually are now available to support the use of innovative interventions to improve health outcomes among people with HIV. The Fenway Institute, in partnership with AIDS United, will serve as the Coordinating Center for Technical Assistance for this initiative.
The intervention strategies will focus on four areas: people with substance use disorders; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and all sexual and gender diverse youth; people who are or have been justice-involved; and using telehealth services for people with HIV. The deadline closes today at 6 PM ET.
National Evaluation of HIV Primary Care Workforce: Take Survey by May 31
Beginning March 1 through May 31 the AETC National Coordinating Resource Center (NCRC) will be conducting a HRSA-supported survey of prescribers in the U.S. Based on an earlier study done by HRSA and Mathematica researchers (Gilman et al., 2016), the NCRC at Rutgers University, with support from HRSA HAB, AETC Program affiliates, and external HIV workforce experts, is conducting a follow-up research study, National Evaluation of HIV Primary Care Workforce in the United States. The purpose of this research study is to evaluate the number of currently practicing health care providers prescribing HIV antiretroviral medication and the number of care providers projected to continue to provide HIV-related care over the next five years. The findings will help to understand and evaluate factors that influence the supply of HIV care providers.
Please consider giving 10 minutes of your time to complete this one-time survey. Participation is entirely voluntary, and all responses are anonymous.
Leveraging HOPWA and other Public Funding to Improve HIV Health, Housing, and Employment Outcomes: Webinar March 15
This webinar, which takes place March 15, 1:00-2:30 pm ET, will share an overview of the HRSA RWHAP Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) initiative, Improving Health Outcomes through the Coordination of Supportive Employment and Housing Services. The initiative involved 12 demonstration sites that developed innovative practices for providing integrated HIV and behavioral healthcare while simultaneously addressing the unmet need for housing, employment, and other social services that compete with healthcare. Between 2017-2020 this initiative served over 1,000 people with HIV who experienced homelessness or housing instability and un/underemployment. Two demonstration sites will also share their approaches to partnering with other locally and federally funded agencies to improve housing stability and employment opportunities for people with HIV.
TA Webinar for RWHAP Part B States/Territories Supplemental Funding Opportunity: March 16
The technical assistance webinar, which takes place March 16, 3:00 – 4:00 pm ET, is for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part B States/Territories Supplemental Grant Program (HRSA-22-034).
Situational Analysis for Integrated Plans: Webinar March 22
This webinar, Situational Analysis: Pulling it All Together, will take place on March 22, 3:00 – 4:00 pm ET. During the webinar, presenters from NASTAD will: review the Situational Analysis requirements, including key differences between the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) and Integrated Planning situational analysis components; and draw on the EHE experience and provide lessons learned and recommendations for developing the situational analysis. Speakers will share their experience of developing a Situational Analysis for EHE, and describe how they plan to leverage that section for their Integrated Plan. The webinar is presented by the HRSA HAB-supported Integrated HIV/AIDS Planning Technical Assistance Center (IHAP TAC).
Learn more about IHAP TAC.
Social and Structural Determinants of Health: Webinar March 29
This webinar, which will take place March 29, 2:00 – 4:00 pm, will raise awareness of social and structural determinants of health among people with HIV engaged in HIV prevention, care, and treatment system. It is designed for the general public and people with HIV aligned with a Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program recipient or subrecipient. It is part of the HRSA HAB-supported ELEVATE Program, conducted by NMAC.
Situational Analysis for Integrated Plans: Learning Session March 30
The peer learning session is an opportunity for jurisdictions to connect around planning issues. The session will be moderated by Integrated HIV/AIDS Planning Technical Assistance Center (IHAP TAC) team members, but is intended to be an open forum for jurisdictions to ask questions, share their experiences, and engage in conversation with each other.
Learn more about IHAP TAC.
Journal Article Summarizes Results of end+disparities ECHO Collaborative
A recent journal article summarizes the results of a HRSA HAB-funded quality improvement learning collaborative focused on improving viral suppression rate improvements among four groups hit hardest by HIV: men who have sex with men of color; Black/African American and Latina women; youth aged 13 to 24 years; and transgender people. The article, “Reducing Disparities: A Virtual Quality Improvement Collective Resulted in Better Health Outcomes for Four Target Populations Disproportionately Affected by HIV,” is in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice (March/April 2022). Study results from the end+disparities ECHO Collaborative reflect improvements in overall and population-specific viral suppression rates among people who get medical care from HRSA HAB’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.
Highlights from CROI 2022
The 2022 virtual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2022) took place last month. An HIV.gov video features NIH’s Dr. Carl Dieffenbach discussing important findings on cancer prevention in people with HIV, research on HIV and aging, and the future of HIV prevention and treatment. Dr. Dieffenbach is the Director of the Division of AIDS at NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
CDC Funding for Syringe Services Programs: Deadline May 2
A notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aims to increase access to harm reduction services for people who currently inject, or have a history of injecting, drugs and reduce the incidence of infectious diseases and other complications of injection drug use through two components.
Component 1: Support a national network of syringe services programs (SSPs) and oversee implementation and use of an annual survey of SSPs. Activities include: support and expand a national network of SSPs; and oversee implementation, analysis, dissemination, and use of findings for a national annual survey assessing SSP coverage, capacity, and service delivery.
Component 2: Support and strengthen implementation of SSPs by supporting SSPs to expand harm reduction services.
Applications are due May 2.
Two pre-application technical assistance webinars will take place on March 16 and March 30 from 3:00 – 5:00 pm ET to provide potential applicants the opportunity to hear an overview of the NOFO and to ask CDC representatives specific questions related to it.
Archived Webinar: HIV.gov Live from Leadership Observes National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
HIV.gov observed National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) on February 7 with a Live with Leadership conversation. The Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP)-hosted conversation provided an opportunity to hear directly from federal and local leaders about accelerated efforts to address HIV in Black communities, progress of the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative, and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (2022-2025) (NHAS). The updated NHAS highlights Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, and Black women, including transgender women, as populations disproportionately impacted by HIV.
Webinar on Optimizing PrEP in Practice: March 24
CDC published the Clinical Practice Guideline for Preexposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention and Clinical Providers Supplement in December 2021. This document reflects the latest evidence and FDA guidance for PrEP prescribing, the policy implications on newly FDA-approved long-acting products, and the multiple ways in which patients are on-boarded into the PrEP intervention system. In an upcoming webinar, March 24, 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, CDC’s Director of the Division of HIV Prevention, will review the guidelines and the latest PrEP science. The webinar is presented by the National Coalition for LGBTQ Health as part of National LGBTQ Health Awareness Week. Free continuing education credits are available.
