HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau Special Bulletin - 1/18/23
The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) shares the following important announcement with our Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) recipients, subrecipients, stakeholders, national partners, and federal colleagues.
New HRSA and CDC Status Neutral Approach Framework Program Letter
The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) and Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a program letter on January 17, to encourage public health partners and grant recipients to implement status neutral approaches to HIV care and prevention. Status neutral service provision is an example of a syndemic approach to public health, weaving together resources from across infectious disease areas and incorporating social determinants of health to deliver whole-person care, regardless of a person’s HIV status. Read the letter.
Thanks to a robust toolbox that includes antiretrovirals for prevention such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) as well as for treatment [Treatment as Prevention (TasP) or Undetectable= Untransmittable (U=U)], and syringe service programs (SSPs), there are more tools than ever to prevent HIV. However, to realize the full potential of these tools, we need to ensure they can be accessed by every person who could benefit from them by removing barriers to services. Employing a status neutral approach and providing comprehensive care for all people, regardless of HIV status, can help reduce HIV stigma, prioritize health equity, and turn the tide on HIV-related disparities.
CDC and HRSA HAB support the use of braided funding to reduce barriers to implementation and to help extend the reach of status neutral services. Beyond CDC and HRSA, it is important for grant recipients and public health partners look across public and private funding streams to identify ways to also braid other funds into service delivery to achieve a more robust status neutral suite of services where feasible and appropriate. This funding approach can also increase programmatic efficiency. CDC encourages grantees to request technical assistance, if needed, on how best to braid funding from different sources.
Access our Status Neutral resources