Special Projects of National Significance Systems Linkages Initiative (2011 to 2016): Improving Access to Care for Hard-to-Reach Populations Living with HIV

Excerpt

The National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS [1]), first released in July 2010, had three primary goals: reducing HIV infections, increasing access to care and optimizing health outcomes for people living with HIV (PLWH) and reducing HIV-related health disparities. The NHAS recognized the importance of getting people with HIV into care early after infection to protect both their health and to reduce the potential that they could transmit the virus to others. To accomplish these inter-related goals, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recognized the urgent need to better coordinate public health system linkages to counseling and testing, surveillance, referrals, and care provision among a more diverse group of traditional HIV-focused and newer non-traditional partners. HIV disproportionately affects people who, because of issues of stigma, discrimination and health inequity, often have less access to prevention and treatment services and, as a result, often have poorer health outcomes. For these reasons, the NHAS advocated for the adoption of community-level approaches to reduce HIV infection in vulnerable communities. …