The Louisiana Office of Public Health STD/HIV/Hepatitis Program (SHHP), working in tandem with EHE jurisdictions, namely East Baton Rouge and Orleans Parishes, as well as other statewide partners, will implement high-impact HIV prevention and surveillance programs to prevent new HIV infections and improve the health of people with HIV in Louisiana. SHHP, working in concert with these partners, will employ the following overarching strategies to achieve this end:
1. Increase knowledge of status to 95% by ensuring all people with HIV receive a diagnosis as early as possible;
2. Implement a comprehensive approach to treat people with diagnosed HIV infection rapidly (increase linkage to care up to 95%) and effectively to achieve viral suppression up to 95%;
3. Prevent new HIV transmission, by increasing PrEP coverage to 50% of estimated people with indications for PrEP, increasing PEP services, and supporting HIV prevention, including prevention of perinatal transmission, harm reduction and syringe services program (SSP) efforts;
4. Respond quickly to HIV clusters and outbreaks to address gaps and inequities in services for communities who need them;
5. Conduct HIV surveillance activities as described in the Technical Guidance (TG) for HIV surveillance programs to ensure accurate, timely, complete, and actionable data; and
6. Support community engagement and HIV planning.
These strategies will be employed to focus on priority populations most vulnerable to HIV and other STIs, and to address related health disparities among these populations.