Biden Outlines Plan To Eliminate HIV By 2030
President Joe Biden’s progressive social policies for the LGBTQIA+ community were boosted on Friday, August 26 when his administration detailed measures to eliminate HIV by 2030, reports Plus.
NATIONAL HIV/AIDS STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
The end goal is to ensure that by 2030, the United States will be a place where new HIV infections are prevented, every person knows their status, and every person with HIV has high-quality care and treatment, lives free from stigma and discrimination, and can achieve their full potential for health and well-being across their lifespan. This is the vision outlined in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.
The measures that President Biden is looking at implementing require a whole-of-government approach that targets specific groups that are at higher risk. These groups include gay and bisexual men, other men who have sex with men, minority people of colour and drug users. “Focusing efforts on these five priority populations will reduce the HIV-related disparities they experience, which is essential if the nation is to succeed on the path toward ending the HIV epidemic by 2030,” details the plan.
The actions required include education, PrEP access, self-testing kits and housing support. Research indicates that the cases of new HIV infections effect disproportionately Black and Brown communities and Dr Patrick Sullivan from Emory University believes funding and focus should be aimed at those communities.
“Ideally, we’d like for PrEP to benefit the communities that have the most risk for HIV. That might mean areas in the South, where I live, but also Black people, Hispanic people, and younger people who have substantial risk,” he says.
According to Managed Healthcare Executive, Biden’s plan has allocated USD850 million towards programs for HIV prevention and treatment with hopes to allocate more in the future. Executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute Carl Schmid says, “This is great news and shows the president is committed to ending HIV by boosting the budget for these efforts.
“The USD9.8 billion mandatory spending is really big. It’s a rather large amount of money, and I was shocked when I saw the number because we were asking for USD400 million the first year,” says Schmid.
Summarising the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, there are four goals:
- Prevent New HIV Infections
- Improve HIV-Related Health Outcomes for People with HIV
- Reduce HIV-Related Disparities and Health Inequities
- Achieve Integrated, Coordinated Efforts That Address the HIV Epidemic among all partners and Interested Parties
Biden’s administration believe if each of these goals are achieved, the implications will be the end to HIV by 2030.
