Oklahoma's High-Impact HIV Prevention and Surveillance Programs for Health Departments - The Sexual Health and Harm Reduction Service (SHHRS) within the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) will continue to focus on high impact prevention efforts: preventing new HIV infections, linking HIV diagnosed persons to care, improving HIV related health outcomes for persons living with HIV (PLWH), reducing HIV-related disparities and health inequities and achieve integrated, coordinated efforts that address the HIV epidemic among partners. As recipients of the Ending HIV Epidemic initiative, Oklahoma has focused specifically on four science-based strategies: Diagnose all people with HIV as early as possible. Treat people with HIV rapidly and effectively to achieve viral suppression, improving life expectancy and lowering risk of HIV transmission. Prevent new HIV transmission by proven interventions, including distribution of condoms, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and syringe services programs (SSP). Respond quickly to potential HIV outbreaks to deliver vital prevention and treatment services to people who need them. Oklahoma uses a comprehensive whole-person approach to address the barriers to care and prevention for people with and without HIV. As a fully integrated service, with a designated Prevention and EHE Manager, HIV Surveillance Manager and other staff, SHHRS is able to provide wrap round services through the interaction between our divisions of prevention, intervention, care and surveillance/analysis. Through this funding, Oklahoma will promote flexibility in the use of resources to implement HIV surveillance and effective prevention programs. By ensuring the timely, accurate and complete electronic reporting by Oklahoma healthcare providers and laboratories and the use of HIV data, Oklahoma can tailor prevention approaches to reach high impact settings and populations in collaboration with EHE efforts currently ongoing in the state. This funding will also increase capacity of HIV testing and linkage to care efforts in clinical and non-clinical settings, prevention outreach, education, PrEP and PEP access, retention and re-engagement in care, strategically focusing on community engagement, health equity, syndemic and whole person approaches to HIV prevention in Oklahoma. This funding will allow Oklahoma to utilize a status neutral, whole person and health equity approach to prevention services wrapped around social drivers of health strategies in determining implementation strategies employed to help persons get tested, linked to care and retained in HIV care. Some of the activities this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will facilitate are establishing partnerships with healthcare providers, laboratories, and community-based organizations; and educating providers, facilities, and laboratories on the potential or proven impacts of timely and complete reporting, testing, and treatment of HIV and AIDS. This will provide a better picture of the disease burden of persons living with HIV and/or AIDS in Oklahoma and facilitate prevention services, including testing and PrEP, and linkages to recommended care and treatment services for confirmed cases. Oklahoma hopes to achieve increases in opt-out HIV screening in health care and non-clinical settings, education and access to prevention services, enhanced surveillance and evaluation activities, improved early HIV diagnosis leading to improved rates of persons who are undetectable. Other outcomes Oklahoma will hope to achieve are in line with the NOFO as put forth by the CDC guidance for PS24-0047.
