Vermont Department of Health's Advancing High-Impact HIV Prevention and Surveillance Program - Vermont Department of Health enters this response to CDC-RFA-PS-24-0047 to apply for funding to continue to implement and improve the state’s high-impact HIV prevention and surveillance programming. VDH will address HIV through a combination of Health Department staff positions and subgrants to partnering service providers throughout the state, to increase HIV prevention, improve health outcomes for PLWDHI, and increase community engagement, while maintaining its historical and ongoing commitment to the whole-person, person-centered approach to public health. VDH will issue a multiyear Request for Proposals matching the CDC Logic Model and all required Strategies, Activities and Outcomes. Surveillance staff will track the state’s performance to outcomes, oversee cluster detection/response and syndemic integration. VDH has already worked to establish a syndemic approach to HIV, other STIs, viral hepatitis, substance use, and other related conditions. Since the evolution of the Social Determinants of Health theory and models, VDH has embraced the prioritization of health equity. The state of Vermont has an existing integrated network of HIV surveillance, prevention and care that has been established for decades, with a Continuum of Care that demonstrates results. Vermont has one of the highest rates of care retention and viral suppression in the country. VDH will conduct the CDC-required Strategies and Activities, including the EHE approach and biomedical models, to meet the CDC’s stated Outcomes. VDH will issue a multiyear Request for Proposals matching the CDC Logic Model, inviting all state HIV service providers, current and potential, to respond. Surveillance staff will track the state’s performance to outcomes, oversee cluster detection/response and syndemic integration. VDH’s Outcomes are as follows: increased early identification of individuals with HIV and facilitation of linkage to care; increasing linkage to medical care for all diagnosed with HIV; early initiation of ARV treatment; increased viral suppression; increased knowledge of and access/linkage to biomedical and harm reduction prevention models; improved identification and response to HIV clusters and outbreaks; improved overall HIV surveillance and compliance with CDC surveillance and reporting standards; increased community engagement with participation in HIV strategic planning. By prioritizing funding to those most affected by HIV and ensuring, as much as possible, parity of service availability throughout the state, VDH will align HIV spending with the evidence of the state’s epidemic. With the enclosed work plan embracing CDC’s current strategic approach and aligned outcomes, VDH commits to a five-year funding cycle of improved performance and results, accurately tracked and recorded by surveillance systems and reported to CDC.
