National HIV/AIDS Strategy: Updated to 2020

HRSA implementation

The National HIV/AIDS Strategy is a five-year plan that details principles, priorities, and actions to guide the national response to the HIV epidemic. First released on July 13, 2010, the Strategy identified a set of priorities and strategic action steps tied to measurable outcomes for moving the nation forward in addressing the domestic HIV epidemic. In July 2015, the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States: Updated to 2020 (NHAS 2020) was updated. NHAS 2020 reflects the work accomplished and the new scientific developments since 2010 and charts a course for collective action across the federal government and all sectors of society to move us close to the Strategy’s vision.

In line with the Strategy, HRSA has taken up the charge of further stopping the spread of the disease through a comprehensive system of HIV care and treatment led by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

The Strategy has four primary goals:

• Reduce new HIV infections;
• Increase access to care and optimize health outcomes for people living with HIV (PLWH);
• Reduce HIV-related health disparities and health inequities; and
• Achieve a more coordinated national response to the HIV epidemic.

The Strategy also allows opportunities to refocus and strengthen the ongoing work in HIV prevention, care, and research. The four areas of critical focus are:

• Widespread testing and linkage to care, enabling PLWH to access treatment early;
• Broad support for PLWH to remain engaged in comprehensive care, including support for treatment adherence;
• Universal viral suppression among PLWH; and
• Full access to comprehensive pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services for those to whom it is appropriate and desired, and support for medication adherence for those using PrEP.

The work of the NHAS 2020 cuts across all HRSA programs – from health centers to National Health Service Corps providers. It includes women and their children, those living in rural and frontier areas, and more. Through targeted and coordinated efforts like those detailed here we hope to realize the dream of an “AIDS-free generation.”

The site highlights some of HRSA actions in the Strategy’s Federal Action Plan to help achieve NHAS 2020 goals and best leverage resources, capacity, and expertise among federal programs.

• AIDS Education and Training Center partners with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to disseminate more widely Recommendations for HIV Prevention with Adults and Adolescents with HIV in the United States to health care providers.
• Building Futures for Youth Living with HIV (PDF - 191 KB) assesses the current state of youth living with HIV aged 13-24 receiving Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) care and treatment, their unique barriers to care, and RWHAP providers’ capacity to engage and retain them in care with optimal health outcomes.

• Dissemination of Evidence-Informed Interventions to Improve Health Outcomes along the HIV Care Continuum Initiative focuses on four adapted linkage and retention interventions to improve health outcomes along the HIV care continuum and identify best practices for models of care.
• Strengthening and Improving the HIV Care Continuum within Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part A Jurisdictions funding opportunity supports collaborative partnering and coordinating relationships between multiple sources of HIV prevention and care planning, service provision, care continuum monitoring, and State/local resources and policy.
• AIDS Education and Training Center Practice Transformation Model funding opportunity provides a comprehensive, interactive HIV training and resource tool that can support national efforts to expand and strengthen the United States HIV clinical care workforce.

• Building Care and Prevention Capacity: Addressing the HIV Care Continuum in Southern Metropolitan Areas funding opportunity implements innovative models of service delivery that result in improvements in HIV care continuum for minority populations.
• People of Color Living with HIV Leadership and Training funding opportunity provides leadership and planning support training for the development of digital tools to enable HIV positive persons to participate on planning bodies, on care teams, in organizations, and board directors.

• Addressing HIV Care and Housing Coordination through Data Integration to Improve Health Outcomes along the HIV Care Continuum identifies models for the electronic integration of housing and HIV care data systems to enhance coordination of service delivery.

Learn more about NHAS 2020 and federal and stakeholder action items.