The National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) is being implemented by the federal government as well as non-federal stakeholders from all sectors of society.
Following release of the Strategy in December 2021, the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP), with support from the HHS Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy, convened the NHAS Federal Implementation Workgroup, composed of representatives of the agencies that contributed to developing the Strategy and who share responsibility for its implementation. Together, they produced a Federal Implementation Plan (PDF 707 KB) documenting federal agencies’ commitments to programs, policies, research, and activities during fiscal years (FY) 2022–2025 to meet the Strategy’s goals, pursuant to their respective missions, funding, and resources. The Implementation Plan was published in August 2022. The more than 380 actions detailed in this plan include agency-specific ones as well as collaborative, cross-agency ones and all are intended to help move the NHAS Indicators of Progress in the right directions.
On the second anniversary of the Strategy’s release, the White House released the National HIV/AIDS Strategy 2023 Interim Action Report (PDF 387 KB). The report provides high-level updates on dozens of key actions taken by federal partners during FY22 and FY23 to move the nation closer to reaching the four goals laid out in the Strategy. It also highlights contributions toward that progress as a result of deploying resources from the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund, implementing the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative, and adopting integrated approaches that address the syndemic of HIV, STIs, viral hepatitis, and substance use and mental health disorders.
As noted in the NHAS Federal Implementation Plan, the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative is now a leading component of the work by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – in collaboration with state, tribal, territorial, and local partners – to implement the Strategy. The Strategy and the EHE initiative are closely aligned and complementary. They have the common goal of reducing new HIV transmissions in the United States by 90% by 2030, and the Strategy’s 21 indicators of progress incorporate all six of the EHE indicators. The Strategy is the broader, overarching national plan that engages many federal departments in addition to HHS, encompasses the entire nation, and involves a wider variety of interventions and approaches than the EHE initiative.
Federal government activity alone can’t end the HIV epidemic in the United States. That is why the National HIV/AIDS Strategy is a national one, not just a federal one. The Strategy is a call to action for stakeholders from all sectors of society. Achieving its goals requires the engagement of stakeholders from all sectors of society in a more coordinated, re-energized national response to HIV. This includes the collaborative and aligned efforts of people with or experiencing risk for HIV; public health professionals; health care providers; people working in state, tribal, and local government; staff of faith- and community-based organizations; educators; lawmakers; researchers; and people leading and working in private industry. The NHAS Federal Implementation Plan can provide inspiration to nonfederal stakeholders, supporting their own efforts to identify and implement complementary actions that accelerate our efforts to end the HIV epidemic in the United States.
The National HIV/AIDS Strategy recognizes that HIV is part of a syndemic with sexually transmitted infictions (STIs), viral hepatitis, mental health disorders, and substance use disorders. A syndemic is the clustering and interaction of two or more diseases, driven by social and structural determinants of health, which leads to an excess burden of disease and ongoing health disparities in affected populations. Science shows that when we address syndemic diseases together, outcomes for each of them can improve.
To help drive a coordinated response to this syndemic, the Strategy is complemented by the Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan (Viral Hepatitis Plan) and the Sexually Transmitted Infections National Strategic Plan (STI Plan), both released in early 2021. These plans mutually recognize that both the specific health conditions and the syndemic itself present opportunities to conduct relevant research and analyses, develop evidence-based interventions and policy options, and allocate resources to respond more efficiently and effectively. The Strategy also aligns with the Administration’s comprehensive 2022 National Drug Control Strategy, developed by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
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