PACHA examines HIV response in Appalachia during September meeting

The President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) agreed with its 78^th The Full Council meeting will be held on September 20, 2023 in Charleston, West Virginia. The committee participated in site visits, heard from panelists, and spoke with community members during “PACHA-to-the-People” community engagement sessions, all focused on addressing HIV and substance use disorders (SUD ) syndrome. The Board of Governors also passed a resolution approving a letter to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services welcoming new members and bidding farewell to members whose terms have expired.

In her opening remarks, Assistant Secretary of Health ADM Rachel Levine, MD, recalled her previous experience as Secretary of Health for Pennsylvania, a state with 57 counties located in the Appalachian region. “I am familiar with many of the health issues and health disparities in the area,” she noted. “I know from personal experience that investing attention and effort in the region is absolutely critical to ending the HIV epidemic. The region faces special challenges and vulnerabilities that require targeted interventions. At the same time, it has many strengths and assets that can be used to engage in these tailored interventions.”

Panelists share insights on HIV and substance use in West Virginia

The meeting began with a discussion of HIV epidemiology across the state and in the Charleston region by West Virginia Department of Public Health Commissioner Matthew Christiansen, MD, and Cabell-Huntington Health Department CEO and Health Officer Michael Kilkenny, MD. They noted that while West Virginia has historically been a state with low HIV rates, it has recently experienced clusters of HIV transmission associated with injection drug use and the opioid crisis. Therefore, state and local health departments are working to jointly address both issues by expanding provider capacity; implementing syringe service programs (SSPs) to the extent permitted by state and local law; and engaging community partners, health centers, and universities Come in; call on CDC expertise; transfer peer recovery support specialist to emergency department.They also emphasized that the country recently issued

Another panel, “Addressing HIV and Substance Abuse in Appalachia,” drew from six different perspectives on the challenges West Virginia faces in this largely rural state. of infectious disease and behavioral health services are concentrated in a few large cities, making it difficult for residents in need to access these services. Panelists argued that punitive attitudes toward people with SUD can lead to policies that limit the availability of effective interventions for SUD and HIV, such as SSP. In addition, PACHA members heard from a community organization, a university’s minority health initiative, a free clinic and the state’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Project on community-based efforts to address the HIV epidemic. The panelists highlighted examples of how listening to community members has enabled them to better tailor behavioral health, wellness and HIV care services. Gayle Conelly Manchin, federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Council, provided a regional perspective. She noted that Appalachia spans 423 counties in 13 states from Mississippi to New York, and communities in the region have achieved success when they work together to address common challenges.

PACHA-to-the-People continues field trips and community engagement meetings

PACHA continues its ongoing efforts to hear firsthand from people in communities dealing with HIV every day through site visits and community engagement sessions. Members visited four community organizations in Charleston that are contributing to the HIV response:

• Exit disclaimera comprehensive behavioral health program dedicated to serving women impacted by trauma, including women living with and at risk for HIV.
• Exit disclaimeris a free charity clinic with four locations and two mobile clinics providing free comprehensive care, including HIV testing, PrEP, behavioral health, to more than 43,000 underserved, uninsured and underinsured adults in 35 counties and harm reduction.
• Exit disclaimerThe organization works to improve access to health care by expanding resources and funding to address HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, opioid epidemics in underserved rural communities in West Virginia and Appalachia. The epidemic of addiction and SUD.
• Exit disclaimerThe agency works weekly in a community at the center of the HIV outbreak in Kanawha County, providing comprehensive comprehensive testing/outreach and HIV care to approximately 50 SUD patients in unstable marriages.