As a result of hard-fought accomplishments in prevention, care, and treatment services, and informed by a robust HIV surveillance system, SF is on a trajectory to ‘Get to Zero’: zero new HIV infections; zero HIV deaths; and zero HIV stigma. SF’s data-driven high impact prevention (HIP) strategy has resulted in significant and steady reductions in new HIV diagnoses and increasing linkages to care and viral suppression among people living with HIV (PWH).
With funding from PS24-0043 SF’s integrated surveillance, prevention, and response program will maintain its strong emphasis on HIP, with additional focus given to the interconnectedness of HIV, HCV, and STIs and the shared social determinants of health affecting health outcomes, including substance use, mental health, homelessness, poverty, racism, homophobia, and transphobia, among others. SF will implement “Ending the Epidemics” (ETE), with the goal of getting to zero for HIV, ending HCV, and turning the curve on STIs. Key activities include:
Test (core funding): Stay the course with what is working; increase integrated HIV/HCV/STI screening.
Test (EHE funding): Partner with housing providers to improve access; establish a Mobile Health Access Point.
Treat (core funding): Provide linkage to care for all newly diagnosed; address disparities in HIV care retention; better integrate HCV linkage to care
Treat (EHE funding): Scale up long-acting injectable ART; provide navigation services in the jails and the Gender Health program.
Prevent (core funding): Nurture and grow the new Health Access Points; focus on disparities among Latine MSM, people experiencing homelessness, and people who use drugs; scale up PrEP; integrate HIV/HCV/STI messaging and services.
Prevent (EHE funding): Build workforce capacity.
Respond (core funding): Monitor for, detect, and respond to clusters.
Respond (EHE funding): Create a cluster detection and response (CDR) dashboard; conduct a CDR outbreak simulation.
Core HIV surveillance and community engagement will also be conducted and will support successful implementation of the above activities.
Principal Investigator (PI) Nyisha Underwood, MPH is the Director of the CHEP Branch and will be accountable for overall planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting and will supervise the EHE/ETE Coordinator. Dr. Stephanie Cohen, Director of the HIV/STI Prevention Section in the Disease Prevention and Control (DPC) Branch, will oversee the DPC work funded by this NOFO, including LINCS. Sharon Pipkin, MPH, HIV Surveillance Coordinator, will oversee all HIV surveillance activities. Together, these key staff will ensure fidelity to work and evaluation plans and maintain smooth project implementation.