NMAC will launch the new “ESCALATE” (Ending Stigma through Collaboration And Lifting All To Empowerment) program. Funded by a cooperative agreement with the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA), “ESCALATE” will work to reduce stigma against People Living With HIV at the individual, organizational, and systemic levels.

“ESCALATE” will train participants in the 57 jurisdictions identified in “Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America (EHE)” to recognize and address HIV stigma with a particular focus on transgender/gender nonconforming individuals, men who have sex with men, and the Black/African-American community. NMAC will work in partnership with NORC, Abt Associates, TRX Development and the University of Chicago.

“Stigma remains a major obstacle to HIV prevention, treatment, and care,” said NMAC Executive Director Paul Kawata. “‘Any plans to end the HIV epidemic, whether national or local, must address that stigma in order to be successful. Using our deep experience in training community leaders, NMAC will use the ESCALATE program to educate communities how to be able to see stigma when it happens and provide tools to address it when it does. It’s a huge task but one that is absolutely necessary.”

“This new HIV stigma reduction programming will help NMAC lay the foundation towards ending the HIV epidemic by year 2030 as outlined in the EHE,” said Charles Shazor, Jr., Associate Program Manager in the NMAC’s Center to End the Epidemics. “HIV stigma is a primary contributor to health gaps and disparities around access to HIV treatment and prevention within communities of color. The ESCALATE partnership will build a newly combined force of national HIV community leaders geared towards HIV stigma elimination in the 57 jurisdictions included in EHE.”

“Stigma is a pressing public health issue. It creates systemic and personal barriers for people living with HIV, which can prevent accessing needed medical care and services that improve health outcomes and overall quality of life,” said Jane E. Fox, Principal Associate, Division of Health and Environment at Abu Associates. “Abt looks forward to teaming with NMAC and others on this timely and pivotal initiative.”

“The University of Chicago is excited to lead the implementation science advisory team that will work to support, strengthen, and sustain stigma-reduction efforts in the various jurisdictions,” said Dr. Russell Brewer, Research Associate Professor at the University of Chicago, Medicine and chair of ESCALATE’s Implementation Science Advisory Team.

NMAC leads with race to urgently fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America. Since 1987, NMAC has advanced our mission through a variety of programs and services, including: a public policy education program, national and regional training conferences, a treatment and research program, numerous electronic and print materials, and a website: www.nmac.org. NMAC also serves as an association of AIDS service organizations, providing valuable information to community-based organizations, hospitals, clinics, and other groups assisting individuals and families affected by the HIV epidemic.

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NMAC has been awarded a cooperative agreement from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to launch “ELEVATE” (Engage Leadership through Employment, Validation, and Advancing Transformation & Equity) for People Living with HIV.

“ELEVATE” will be a four-year national training program for people living with HIV (PLHIV) integrating five of HRSA’s community programs. ELEVATE will prepare PLHIV within planning bodies, advocacy actions, and the HIV workforce to be meaningfully engaged and central to decision-making. PLHIV will be supported to earn leadership roles. The program will focus on residents of the 57 jurisdictions identified in the federal plan to End the HIV Epidemic. NMAC will operate “ELEVATE” in partnership with JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., The Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, and the Latino Commission on AIDS.

“From the moment the federal plan was announced, NMAC has believed that it could be a tremendous opportunity to hire people from affected communities into professional positions,” said NMAC Executive Director Paul Kawata. “‘ELEVATE’ will help make that opportunity into reality by giving potential job candidates the tools they need to be hired and succeed. We look forward to working with our constituents to help them make a difference in their communities.”

“We cannot say it enough times that meaningful engagement of people living with HIV is mandatory if we truly are committed to ending the epidemic,” said Ace Robinson, Director of the NMAC’s Center to End the Epidemics. “The vast majority of people living with HIV are racial/ethnic minorities who face a myriad of systemic societal ills in addition to HIV-related stigma. We must uplift these individuals by centering them on creating and implementing solutions. ELEVATE will help us all reach our common goal of ending the HIV epidemic.”

“ELEVATE” is modeled on NMAC’s Building Leaders of Color (BLOC) program and other training programs sponsored by HRSA including: JSI’s “Community HIV/AIDS TA Training (Planning CHATT)” and “The ACE TA Center’s In It Together Initiative;” the Center for Quality Improvement and Innovation’ s “Training Consumers on Quality Plus;” and Boston University School of Social Work’s “Improving Access to Care: Using Community Health Workers to Improve Linkage and Retention in Care (Among People of Color).”

“JSI is excited to build on our work designing and implementing Planning CHATT, as well as the ACE TA Center’s In It Together initiative, to continue to elevate community voices and enhance community members’ ability to take an active role in health care access and planning,” said Mira Levinson, Co-Director, Center for HIV & Infectious Diseases at JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. “Our team is looking forward to applying our experience, passion, and commitment to health literacy to the continued evolution of these training resources.”

Engaging the HIV workforce to ensure that PLHIV are supported as both colleagues and patients will be central to the success of ELEVATE.

“The Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) is looking forward to being a partner in the ELEVATE program, an important contribution to the success of the Plan to End HIV in the US,” said Carole Treston, Executive Director of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. “The  engagement and leadership of PLWHIV in the HIV workforce is critical to ending the epidemic and nurses have an important role in supporting their training and employment. We are proud to be part of this cooperative agreement led by NMAC and HRSA, along with JSI  and Latino Commission on AIDS.”

NMAC leads with race to urgently fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America. Since 1987, NMAC has advanced our mission through a variety of programs and services, including: a public policy education program, national and regional training conferences, a treatment and research program, numerous electronic and print materials, and a website: www.nmac.org. NMAC also serves as an association of AIDS service organizations, providing valuable information to community-based organizations, hospitals, clinics, and other groups assisting individuals and families affected by the HIV epidemic.

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Following is a statement from NMAC on the passing of Congressman John Lewis.

“In one of his last interviews, Congressman Lewis stated ‘you cannot stop the call of history,” said NMAC Executive Director Paul Kawata. “‘You may use troopers. You may use fire hoses and water, but it cannot be stopped. There cannot be any turning back. We have come too far and made too much progress to stop now and go back.’  NMAC’s mission is to lead with race to fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic. As we go on with our mission, we will continue to memorialize Congressman Lewis’s dream by fighting alongside the millions of Americans who were and remain inspired by Congressman Lewis’s drive to make this country a more fair and just country for all Americans.”

“Congressman John Lewis’s voice unlocked millions of American’s who shared his vision that civil rights, including the right to vote, the right to work, and the right to walk down a street without being murdered is a fundamental right which should be afforded to all Americans, regardless of their race,” said Joe Huang-Racalto, NMAC Director of Government Relations and Public Policy. “His deep faith in Americans’ ability to accept and forgive is what earned him the title of Conscience of the Congress. The power of his voice was only matched by the power of the movement he inspired.”

For Immediate Release
Contact: Chip Lewis, 202.853.1846, clewis@nmac.org

CDC SURVEY SHOWS MIXED RESULTS
FOR YOUTH ON HIV, OTHER STDS

June 15, 2018 – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance Summary on the 2017 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) shows mixed results for youth, especially for youth of color when it comes to HIV and other STDs.

“While there were encouraging signs across all races and ethnicities in terms of decreased sexual activity, it is alarming that condom use dropped so significantly” said Linda H. Scruggs, Director of NMAC’s Leadership Pipeline and Youth Initiative. “This report indicates that youth, particularly youth of color, are engaging in riskier behavior and are at greater chance of contracting HIV or other STDs. It also shows that, with a decreased use of condoms, we will need to look at biomedical prevention methods, like Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP).”

“While there is no data in this update about LGBTQ youth, we know that data is coming soon and we look forward to seeing it,” said Scruggs.

“Through NMAC’s Youth Initiative and our Building Young Leaders of Color (BYLOC), we know that youth are eager to take a leadership role in the fight against HIV in their communities and with their peers,” said Scruggs. “The data from this update and coming updates gives them the information they need to effectively communicate with their peers and develop HIV fighting strategies for their communities.”

NMAC leads with race to urgently fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America. Since 1987, NMAC has advanced our mission through a variety of programs and services, including: a public policy education program, national and regional training conferences, a treatment and research program, numerous electronic and print materials, and a website: www.nmac.org. NMAC also serves as an association of AIDS service organizations, providing valuable information to community-based organizations, hospitals, clinics, and other groups assisting individuals and families affected by the HIV epidemic.

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For Immediate Release
Contact: Chip Lewis, 202.853.1846, clewis@nmac.org

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DECISION TO END PROTECTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS HURTS EFFORTS TO END HIV EPIDEMIC

June 8, 2018 – The Trump Administration announcement that they will no longer defend the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with preexisting conditions endangers health care coverage for people with pre-existing conditions like HIV, cancer, asthma, or diabetes, all of which have a disproportionate impact on communities of color.

The fight to end the HIV epidemic is dependent on providing health care coverage to all Americans – particularly people of color – living with pre-existing conditions like HIV. If this decision stands, people living with HIV could be denied coverage or have to pay much higher insurance premiums. That will deter people from getting tested or seeking and staying in care, two vital components to ending the epidemic.

“Access to testing and health care is critical to ending the HIV epidemic,” said Paul Kawata, NMAC’s Executive Director. “If people living with HIV can’t get insurance because they have a pre-existing condition, they will not be able to afford the care they need and deserve. This is especially true for people of color who statistically bear the greatest burden of the HIV epidemic. Without care, they will no longer be virally suppressed, risking their own health and putting their partners at greater risk of HIV transmission. This decision endangers all of the progress we’ve made in the fight against HIV in recent years and we hope that it will be reversed.”

NMAC leads with race to urgently fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America. Since 1987, NMAC has advanced our mission through a variety of programs and services, including: a public policy education program, national and regional training conferences, a treatment and research program, numerous electronic and print materials, and a website: www.nmac.org. NMAC also serves as an association of AIDS service organizations, providing valuable information to community-based organizations, hospitals, clinics, and other groups assisting individuals and families affected by the HIV epidemic.

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