POZ December 2023

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If your test result is negative (non-reactive) When it comes to HIV prevention, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that ALL sexually active adults and adolescents be informed about PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis). PrEP means routinely taking prescription medicine before you’re exposed to HIV to help reduce your chances of getting it. Here are some steps you can take for yourself and your sexual partner(s):

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Talk to your healthcare provider

Find out everything you can

Maintain your sexual health

Have a conversation with your healthcare provider about all of your HIV prevention options, including PrEP.

Scan the QR codes and explore resources on your own to get tips on how to be proactive about protecting your sexual health, including understanding your HIV prevention options, like PrEP medications.

Regularly test for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), use condoms, and communicate honestly with your partner(s). If you have been prescribed PrEP, continue to take it exactly as prescribed.

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H Today, it’s recommended that people living with HI Starting and staying on today’s treatment can help status and prevent transmission of HIV to others th take for yourself and your sexual partner(s):

Talk to your healthcare provider Ask what your test results mean for you and find out about HIV treatments that could best fit your personal routine.

Whatever your results may be...

Speak with a healthcare provider: 1. How can I help protect myself and others?

2. How often should I get tested and retested?

3. How can I talk to my partner(s) about my status and theirs?

Share your status with partner(s)

It may not be easy, but having a conversation with your partner(s) about your HIV status can help: • Normalize the conversation around status, sexual health, and testing • Empower others to make informed decisions about their sexual health • Encourage all people to have conversations and stay engaged with their healthcare providers

HEALTHYSEXUAL, GILEAD, GILEAD, and and the the GILEAD GILEAD Logo Logo are are trademarks trademarks of of Gilead Gilead Sciences, Sciences, Inc. Inc. All All other other HEALTHYSEXUAL, marks are are the the property property of of their their respective respective owners. owners. © © 2022 2022 Gilead Gilead Sciences, Sciences, Inc. Inc. All All rights rights reserved. reserved. marks US-UNBC-1091 12/22 12/22 US-UNBC-1091

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TasP

Treatment as Prevention

If you’re living with HIV, current research shows that taking HIV treatment as prescribed and getting to and staying undetectable prevents transmitting HIV to others through sex. This is also known as U=U (undetectable=untransmittable).

PrEP

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis

PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) means routinely taking medicine before you’re exposed to HIV to help reduce of getting it. There are different PrEP options available, protec are 99% effective. Just remember, PrEP doesn’t protect STIs, so be sure to use condoms and other healthy sex

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Use condoms, practice safer sex, and start and stay on the treatment discussed with your healthcare provider.

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No matter what your HIV test results may be, staying educated on how to take care of yourself and your partner(s) is a key step to living a longer and healthier life.

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Resources for you

Undetectable

A major goal of HIV treatment is getting your viral load to undetectable. Undetectable means that there is so little virus in the blood that a lab test can’t measure it. If you have questions about your lab results and what it means to be undetectable, talk with your healthcare provider.

g prescription e your chances , some of which t against other x practices.

www.Healthysexuals.com

www.HelpStopTheVirus.com

Visit the link above for more information and educational resources about PrEP.

Visit the link above for more information and educational resources about HIV treatment.

If you are living with HIV, talk to your healthcare provider about treatment options.

CONTENTS

EXCLUSIVELY ON

POZ.COM POZ BLOGS Our roster of bloggers spans the diversity of the HIV community. Go to poz.com/blogs to read varying points of view from people living with the virus as well as from HIV-negative advocates. Join the conversation in the comments section. Visit the blogs to find hope and inspiration from others.

D

POZ OPINIONS

#UNDETECTABLE The science is clear: People who have an undetectable viral load don’t transmit HIV sexually.

In addition to keeping people healthy, effective HIV treatment also means HIV prevention.

Go to poz.com/undetectable for more.

POZ DIGITAL Scan the QR code (left) with your smartphone camera or go to poz.com/digital to view the current issue and read past issues online.

Malcolm Gregg Scott with his dog, Happy

22 THE POZ 100: WORKING TOGETHER TO END HIV This year’s list spotlights 100 entities, including organizations, agencies, networks and initiatives, that are making an impact nationwide and around the world in the fight against HIV. 3 FROM THE EDITOR

16 BASICS

Together Again

A primer on pre-exposure prophylaxis

4 POZ Q&A

19 RESEARCH NOTES

Jack Walls, Robert Mapplethorpe’s boyfriend in the 1980s, reflects on his current life as an artist.

Women in Africa prefer long-acting injectable PrEP over pills • Cabenuva HIV treatment works for people without viral suppression • CRISPR gene editing cuts virus out of cells • fatty liver linked to cardiovascular risk in people living with HIV

6 POZ PLANET Magic Johnson on HIV awareness in 2023 • preventing HIV on Black campuses • the Air Force eases PrEP restrictions • ending AIDS lifts all boats • POZ Stories: Jomil Luna • Everyday: Milestones in the HIV epidemic

12 SPOTLIGHT

20 CARE & TREATMENT

A new type of HIV vaccine • Task Force favors more PrEP options • the health status of people living with HIV • mpox vaccines and immunity

USCHA 2023

48 HEROES 14 VOICES Paul Kawata muses on joining PACHA • social media tips from The Well Project

Malcom Gregg Scott, a long-term survivor and an advocate, is working on a documentary about the Lazarus Generation of AIDS.

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Advocates, researchers, politicians, thought leaders and folks just like you all have ideas worth sharing.

Go to poz.com/ opinions to read about topics such as living with HIV, improving care and treatment, increasing prevention efforts and fighting for social justice.

FROM THE EDITOR

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HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF attending the 2023 United States Conference on HIV/ AIDS (USCHA), which was held in Washington, DC, this past September. I shared staffing duties at the POZ booth.

I was also pleased to have been able to attend the 2022 USCHA in San Juan, Puerto Rico. That was my first conference after COVID-19 forced a break in large gatherings. It felt like a family reunion.

This year’s USCHA felt similar, as the event always brings together people who haven’t seen each other in a while. That said, I felt something else: a sense of normalcy.

One could argue that was true last year, but I would describe what I felt back then as, at best, the start of a return to normalcy.

This year felt plainly normal. Of course, it was definitely the new normal.

Some folks were still choosing to wear masks and avoid handshakes. Others (me included) lamented not being able to get the latest COVID booster in time for the conference. Given those caveats, it just felt good to be able to get on with what we were all there for—the fight against HIV. To see social media posts commemorating this year’s USCHA, go to page 12.

That sense of getting back to basics is what inspires this year’s POZ 100 list. The past several years had rightfully shifted the focus of many advocates to other urgent matters. This moment feels like a muchneeded opening to return to the essentials of eradicating the virus.

“Working Together to End HIV” is this year’s theme. The list spotlights 100 entities, including organizations, agencies, networks and initiatives, that are making an impact nationwide and around the world in the fight against HIV. We thank all the honorees for their unwavering commitment to the cause. Go to page 22 to learn about them.

As with each POZ 100, this year’s list is not meant to be comprehensive. It is, however, intended to be representative of the

community at large. We believe the list provides excellent examples of HIV advocacy.

In each issue of POZ, we also strive to spotlight inspiring stories of HIV advocacy by individuals. Artist Jack Walls and activist Malcolm Gregg Scott are two such people.

Walls was Robert Mapplethorpe’s boyfriend in the 1980s until his death in 1989. Currently, Walls is a thriving artist. Go to page 4 to read more about his life now.

Scott is a long-term survivor. Not only has he fought against HIV, but he is also a longtime cannabis activist. Today, he is working on a documentary about the Lazarus Generation of AIDS, those who rose up from their death beds after effective treatment and are still alive. Go to page 48 for more on Scott.

Our sister publication Real Health, which focuses on African-American wellness, has published another special issue on HIV. Find it in the center of this print issue of POZ.

ORIOL R. GUTIERREZ JR. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF editor-in-chief@poz.com

Want to read more from Oriol? Follow him on Twitter @oriolgutierrez and check out blogs.poz.com/oriol.

poz.com DECEMBER 2023 POZ 3

POZ Q & A

BY TIM MURPHY

Clockwise from left: Jack Walls (left) with Robert Mapplethorpe, photographed in 1982

by Gilles Larrain for Interview magazine; a 2019 drawing by Walls from his first Chicago show; a 1987 photo of Walls by Mapplethorpe; a photo of 14-year-old Walls

PAYING ATTENTION

A

RTIST JACK WALLS, 66, WAS PHOTOGRAPHER ROBERT MAPplethorpe’s boyfriend in the 1980s, until Mapplethorpe’s death from AIDS-related illness in 1989.

Since then, Walls has pursued his own art career, which he chronicles on Instagram. You can also see him in HBO’s 2016 Mapplethorpe documentary, Look at the Pictures, and read about him in Patricia Morrisroe’s 1995 biography of Mapplethorpe, which Walls despises.

Now living in his native Chicago after decades in New York City and upstate New York, Walls recently gave an interview to longtime POZ contributing writer Tim Murphy for his Substack newsletter, “The Caftan Chronicles,” which runs monthly in-depth interviews with notable older gay men. Below is a short version of the long interview.

When did you move back to Chicago?

In 2019. Then came 2020, and the whole world shut down, and I’ve been living at my mom’s ever since.

of these white queens would use the N-word.

In her 1995 biography of Mapplethorpe, Patricia Morrisroe details how much he used the N-word. Did that turn you off?

That book frankly is a piece of shit.

When I met her, I detected that she was going to write a hit job. I never heard Robert saying “N this, N that.” Why would I put up with that? Everything he did was performative anyway. Black men—that was an aesthetic of his.

The first time you saw him, you said, “That’s going to be my boyfriend.”

No. When I went to his 1980 Black Males show, I said to my friend, “He’s gonna be my boyfriend.” Robert was not there.

What were your New York years like?

I first went to New York in 1974, when I was 17. I’d always had this obsession with it.

My 7th grade teacher gave me Manchild in the Promised Land [a novel set in Harlem], then I also read Giovanni’s Room and Last Exit to Brooklyn—all before I was 15. The summer of 1977 I spent in Cherry Grove on Fire Island, which was gay heaven. This was pre-AIDS, so everyone was fucking like rabbits.

Sorry. But what made you say that?

Was Cherry Grove more racially diverse than the [more posh neighboring gay beach community] the Pines?

You didn’t think it was exploitative or fetishistic?

No. My friend Peaches and I were two of the few Black guys. I know there’s racism in the gay community, so I took everything with a grain of salt. I was aware of derogatory terms like “dinge queens”—white dudes who were into Black dudes. And then some

Of course, it was fetishistic. I’m not stupid. That was the point. I’m an artist.

I’m sophisticated enough to get it. I

4 POZ DECEMBER 2023 poz.com

The photos were big and beautiful. I thought, This guy is fucking with these white art-world people. He’s shoving this shit down their throat.

(WALLS/MAPPLETHORPE AND WALLS) COURTESY OF JACK WALLS; (DRAWING/PORTRAITS) COURTESY OF JACK WALLS/INSTAGRAM

Jack Walls, the late Robert Mapplethorpe’s former boyfriend, reflects on his current life as an artist.

didn’t meet Robert until 1981, when we cruised each other on Bleecker Street, and then we kept seeing each other around. Finally, he gave me his card. So I called, and he asked, “Did you eat yet?” “No.” “Wanna meet at The Pink Teacup?” So I walk over, and he’s already sitting there. That was March 1982, and then we ended up together until he died in 1989.

What was your relationship like?

Nice. Fun. Robert was working, and I was interested in his work because I was learning stuff about how to be an artist.

He was 10 years older than me, and I respected that. Sam [Wagstaff, Mapplethorpe’s benefactor and lover, who also died of AIDS] was 25 years older than Robert.

How did you avoid HIV?

If you were shooting dope, you didn’t share a needle. And [you didn’t have multiple sex partners]. I have to fall in love with someone’s brain first.

Do you miss New York?

There’s nothing to miss. Before, you had to be in New York. I used to go down to the piers. Those kids were wonderful, dancing the Hustle with those big boom boxes—the ones who ended up in Paris Is Burning. Angie Xtravaganza and I would dance salsa together.

Anything I missed?

Well, then, I guess we’ll never know.

My mom used to talk to Robert on the

Jack Walls

How did you feel after both Sam and Robert died?

“My life—it’s been magical.

I just want to make art.”

Basically, joy because they didn’t have to suffer anymore.

Were you in love with him?

Are you happy being back in Chicago?

Well, he was your boyfriend, right?

Yep. COVID was a blessing in disguise.

People didn’t have anything to spend money on, so a lot of them started buying my art. I had my first one-man show at 50, and I’ve been selling art since then.

Mm-hmm. Yep.

What do you think?

Do you miss him?

Yep. Every day.

What’s your biggest regret in life?

Watching my friends die from AIDS. COURTESY OF JACK WALLS

Why not?

I can’t.

[Long pause] Honestly? My relationship with Robert. You wouldn’t be talking to me right now otherwise.

Did you feel freer as an artist after Robert died?

What were you like as a kid?

Ambitious. Even when I was in gangs, it’s because I thought I would one day write about it. Same thing with joining the Navy. My life—it’s been magical.

Even through my years of junkie-ness.

I’m healthy now. I’m not HIV positive.

Well, now you can reference what I said.

“Oh, Robert used the N-word....” Nuh-uh, I wasn’t going down that path.

I don’t know. You have to ask him.

What are you most proud of?

That’s like asking someone which of their children is prettier. All my work looks the same to me.

Well, he wasn’t going to be with me if I wasn’t going to be an artist. I’m a quick study. He and Sam liked that I could hold my own in a room.

I wasn’t demonizing him. I was referencing how Morrisroe describes him.

I told you. I’m from the South Side of Chicago. I spearheaded [fighting] racism in the gay community. I was discriminated against by white queens. When you walked into gay bars back then, you never saw Black bartenders, so when I did my Boom Boom Room party [in Chicago in the 1990s], I told the bar owners that I wanted all the bartenders to be Black.

Was Robert in love with you?

Let’s talk about the work you showed at the gallery WHAAM! in New York City recently. These are drawings. Do they resemble your previous work?

work. [Pause] A lot of your questions—I didn’t want to give energy to some of the things you were bringing up [with the biography]. I wasn’t going to sit here and demonize Robert.

What do you want to prioritize for the rest of your life?

phone. They got along great. Now, I overhear her bragging about her son Jack, the famous artist.

That must be a good feeling.

For years, when people would ask my mom “What does Jack do?” it was so nebulous. Once they realized I was making money, that’s all that mattered to them. When Robert was sick, some in the art world thought I would die of heroin or AIDS. Even I didn’t think I was going to make it past 30. But once I hit 35, I thought, I should start paying attention.

I just want to make art.

Are you proud you survived?

What about relationships?

I could never be in one. It takes too much

I’m proud that I’m still here and talking to you. Q

poz.com DECEMBER 2023 POZ 5

POZ PLANET UPDATES ON HIV & AIDS

Magic Johnson on HIV Awareness in 2023 The basketball legend was honored at ETAF’s annual ball.

In September, the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) honored NBA Hall of Fame legend, philanthropist and businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson and his wife, Cookie Johnson—also a philanthropist and entrepreneur—at the fourth annual Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS fundraising gala.

Johnson, perhaps the most famous face of the HIV epidemic, told the crowd: “What a true blessing it is to be here tonight, to receive an award from the woman who Cookie and I cherish and worked so hard with to change the face of the disease, to bring awareness, to raise money, to care for people who were living with HIV and AIDS, to provide housing for them and, last but not least, to stop discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS.” “Elizabeth meant so much to us,” Cookie said onstage. “She was one of the first to stand up for the disease.

Despite the ridicule she got for it, she just kept pledging ahead and look at what it has done.”

Cookie On November 7, 1991, at the height of his and Magic fame, Johnson shocked the world by announcJohnson

ing that he had tested positive for HIV and was retiring from the Los Angeles Lakers immediately. He remains an advocate for HIV and other health issues, speaking out, for example, about the importance of COVID-19 vaccines and against misinformation and conspiracy theories.

In a related interview with Variety, the Johnsons recounted their HIV journey and advocacy over the past three decades. The Johnsons’ foundation has given over $15 million to underserved communities of color across the country.

“There are a lot of people living healthy lives now who got diagnosed just like me [decades ago],” Johnson told Variety. “That couldn’t happen back then because we didn’t have the drugs. We didn’t have the information on how to be here for a long time. A lot has changed for the good.”

“It’s great to see the advancements we made, but I think because people are so healthy and living long lives on medication, the young people are not scared,” Cookie said, adding: “I think the answer is to continue to educate.”

—Laura Schmidt

Preventing HIV on Black Campuses As students return to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) this fall, many will learn about HIV prevention thanks to a group of 12 student PrEP ambassadors trained by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF), the educational arm of the LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign.

PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, refers to daily pills and long-acting injectables taken by people at risk of contracting HIV. For the 2023–2024 school year, the

6 POZ DECEMBER 2023 poz.com

12 students will serve as PrEP Peer Educators and work to eliminate HIV-related stigma on HBCU campuses by educating fellow students about PrEP and HIV testing and treatment, according to an HRCF news release.

“We are thrilled to welcome this dynamic cohort of HBCU students and take great pride in the work they’re doing to continue spreading the message of HIV awareness on the respective campuses,” Leslie Hall, director of HRCF’s HBCU Program, said in a news release. “As a Black gay man and HBCU alum, I’m aware of the hurdles college-aged youth face when it comes to knowing their status and taking the appropriate measures to maintain their optimal health.”

About 13% of the 1.2 million people living with HIV in the United States are unaware of their status. Of all new HIV HRCF PrEP ambassadors diagnoses in

2019, Black and Latino individuals accounted for 42% and 22%, respectively. What’s more, one out of every five new HIV cases are diagnosed in young people ages 13 to 24. Yet approximately 44% of those individuals do not know their status.

Although HIV impacts young people—especially those in minority populations—at an alarming rate, over half of HBCUs lack formal HIV prevention policies. The ambassador program fosters safe environments throughout the country to educate college students about the realities of the HIV epidemic and necessary preventive care.

“The creation of this ambassadorship program serves as an outlet for those who may be unfamiliar with the nuances surrounding HIV but want to ensure their community is educated on this impactful topic,” Hall added.

Currently, health insurers must cover PrEP to prevent HIV, though a conservative Texas Court case aims to end that mandate. —LS

(JOHNSON) COURTESY OF JON KOPALOFF/GETTY IMAGES FOR THE ELIZABETH TAYLOR AIDS FOUNDATION; (AMBASSADORS) COURTESY OF HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FOUNDATION

Peer educators promote pre-exposure prophylaxis.

Air Force PrEP Restrictions Previously, pilots and crew were grounded for 30 days.

THE PATH TO END AIDS LIFTS ALL BOATS

(UNAIDS) COURTESY OF UNAIDS (MORTARBOARD AND JET) ISTOCK

UNAIDS underscores the impact of the global HIV response.

UNAIDS joins The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS global partners (UNAIDS), the governments of Botswana and the to urge world United States of America, and the European leaders to act.

Commission have joined global partners to urge world leaders to get on the path that ends AIDS. This, they say, will also accelerate progress to reach many other of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The call was made at a high-level event, Celebrating Global HIV Progress to End AIDS and Advance the Sustainable Development Goals, held during the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Participants underscored the lifesaving impact of the global HIV response as well as the need for continued support, funding and commitment, including for the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

The AIDS response has yielded dividends far beyond HIV, including for broader health, economic and development outcomes. SDG 3 (good health and wellbeing), which includes SDG 3.3 (of which ending AIDS is a part), is within sight. The AIDS response has also generated momentum toward achieving several other SDGs, notably SDG 4 (quality education), SDG 5 (gender equality) and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities).

“PEPFAR is a symbol of the compassion of the American people,” said Ambassador John N. Nkengasong, U.S. global AIDS coordinator and senior bureau official for global health security and diplomacy.

“Through PEPFAR, we have changed the course of the AIDS pandemic and advanced SDG 3. The program’s value added has been well documented and advances progress toward other SDGs, including 4 and 5.

The ongoing work with our partner governments will help countries achieve UNAIDS’ treatment targets and contribute to SDG 10.”

The AIDS response has brought societies back from the brink.

Successful HIV programs have supported the incomes of households affected by HIV by improving wealth and labor market outcomes boosting progress toward SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth).

“Ending AIDS is an indelible legacy that the leaders of today can etch into history by 2030,” said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS. “You wield the power to save millions of lives while advancing health, development and pandemic preparedness. Let us commit to ending AIDS as a reality, not just a dream, to forge a world that is healthier, more equal and more just.” —UNAIDS

In a win for HIV prevention and an Air Force LGBTQ group, the Department of the Air Force recently announced that it will ease flight restrictions for pilots and air crew taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention, according to an Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) news release.

Under previous guidelines, pilots and air crew starting PrEP were grounded for 30 days in case they experienced side effects acclimating to the medication, reports Air Force Times. That wait period has now been shaved down to 14 days.

In addition, members who take PrEP are no longer required to obtain a waiver. The waiver had been required, the newspaper reports, in order to help health care providers track safety data among the users, but since PrEP is now considered safe, the waivers are no longer needed.

The Air Force updated its PrEP guidelines in response to pilots who spoke publicly about the professional harm caused by restricting the medication.

“We have always been in alignment with [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines for PrEP, but by reducing the time on duty restriction, this change will enhance readiness and help retain service members,” said Colonel Rich Kipp, chief of the medical standards division, in the news release. “Members of the working group determined the waiver was not necessary, given Air Force review of safety data over the last five years demonstrated it was safe to reduce the duty restriction time.”

Between 2017 and 2022, about 1,600 troops were newly diagnosed with HIV, according to a nonpartisan Congressional Research Service report. Another health study found that 22% of active duty troops and 18% of those in the reserve components in 2018 were at high risk for HIV, an Air Force Times article stated.

The policy update is partly thanks to the LGBTQ+ Initiative Team, one of the Department of the Air Force’s Barrier Analysis Working Groups created in 2021, which identified the previous policy as a barrier to service. —LS

poz.com DECEMBER 2023 POZ 7

IMPORTANT FACTS FOR BIKTARVY®

(bik-TAR-vee)

This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY® and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment.

MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BIKTARVY

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIKTARVY

BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including: ` Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. Your healthcare provider will test you for HBV. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking BIKTARVY. Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months, and may give you HBV medicine.

BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including: ` Those in the “Most Important Information About BIKTARVY” section. ` Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections that may have been hidden in your body. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking BIKTARVY. ` Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys. If you develop new or worse kidney problems, they may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY. ` Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat. ` Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain. ` The most common side effects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies were diarrhea (6%), nausea (6%), and headache (5%).

These are not all the possible side effects of BIKTARVY. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking BIKTARVY. You are encouraged to report negative side eff ects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with BIKTARVY.

ABOUT BIKTARVY BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults and children who weigh at least 55 pounds. It can either be used in people who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before, or people who are replacing their current HIV-1 medicines and whose healthcare provider determines they meet certain requirements.

BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS. Do NOT take BIKTARVY if you also take a medicine that contains: ` dofetilide ` rifampin ` any other medicines to treat HIV-1

BEFORE TAKING BIKTARVY Tell your healthcare provider if you: ` Have or have had any kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis infection. ` Have any other health problems. ` Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if BIKTARVY can harm your unborn baby.

Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking BIKTARVY. ` Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed.

Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take: ` Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-thecounter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist. ` BIKTARVY and other medicines may affect each other.

Ask your healthcare provider and pharmacist about medicines that interact with BIKTARVY, and ask if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with all your other medicines.

HOW TO TAKE BIKTARVY Take BIKTARVY 1 time each day with or without food.

GET MORE INFORMATION ` This is only a brief summary of important information

about BIKTARVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more. ` Go to BIKTARVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5. ` If you need help paying for your medicine, visit BIKTARVY.com for program information.

BIKTARVY, the BIKTARVY Logo, GILEAD, the GILEAD Logo, and KEEP BEING YOU are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. © 2023 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. US-BVYC-0250 04/23

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#1 PRESCRIBED HIV TREATMENT* *Source: IQVIA NPA Weekly, 04/19/2019 through 01/20/2023.

ELIAS SWITCHED TO BIKTARVY Listen to REAL STORIES being told by REAL VOICES.

No matter where life takes you,

Because HIV doesn’t change who you are.

BIKTARVY® is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in certain adults. BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS.

Ask your healthcare provider if BIKTARVY is right for you.

Person featured takes BIKTARVY and is compensated by Gilead.

Please see Important Facts about BIKTARVY, including important warnings, on the previous page and at BIKTARVY.com.

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POZ PLANET UPDATES ON HIV & AIDS

Embracing the Light Within Jomil Luna’s journey of resilience with HIV. Living with HIV is not an easy path, but it has transformed me into a resilient warrior, determined to love myself unconditionally and share my inspiring journey with the world. This is my story of how I have risen above the challenges, embraced my inner strength and embarked on a profound journey of self-love and acceptance.

The day I received my HIV diagnosis was a turning point in my life. Initially overwhelmed by fear, stigma and uncertainty, I soon realized that HIV did not define me. I resolved to confront the disease head-on, seeking knowledge and support to empower myself in this new chapter.

Stigma surrounding HIV can be suffocating, but I refused to let it consume me. I began educating myself about the virus, dispelling myths and engaging in conversations that aimed to break down barriers and reduce discrimination. By sharing my story openly, I discovered the power of vulnerability and the ability to change hearts and minds.

Support from loved ones and the HIV community became my lifeline. I sought out support groups, connected with individuals who shared similar experiences and found solace in their stories of resilience. Together, we encouraged and uplifted each other, fostering a

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The indie band BRIGHT EYES releases A Christmas Album, a collection of holiday tracks whose proceeds benefit the Nebraska AIDS Project. (2002)

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10 POZ DECEMBER 2023 poz.com

What adjectives best describe you?

Resilient, helpful, humble.

If you could change one thing about living with HIV, what would it be?

The stigma that still surrounds it.

What is the best advice you ever received?

Remember that when other people reject or judge you, it’s their limitation not yours.

What drives you to do what you do?

To make a difference in the world.

What is your motto?

“If you stay ready, you ain’t gotta get ready. #SHEREADY” If you could be any animal, what would you be? And why?

An elephant because they are super protective, love hard and remember everything.

Read other POZ Stories or share your own at poz.com/stories.

These dates represent milestones in the HIV epidemic. Visit poz.com/aidsiseveryday to learn more about the history of HIV and AIDS. BY JENNIFER MORTON

WORLD AIDS DAY

ACT UP holds its first major fundraiser, an art auction cochaired by David Hockney and Annie Leibovitz. (1989)

and resilience can conquer any obstacle. Together, we can create a world where HIV is met with compassion, understanding and unconditional love.

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The TREATMENT ACTION CAMPAIGN forms to advocate for greater access to HIV treatment for all South Africans by educating the public about issues concerning the availability, affordability and use of HIV treatments. (1998)

Well-known AIDS activist DENNIS DELEON, president of the Latino Commission on AIDS, dies of AIDS-related causes, at age 61. (2009)

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(LUNA) COURTESY OF JOMIL LUNA; (LEIBOVITZ AND HOCKNEY) WIKIMEDIA; (SOUTH AFRICA) ISTOCK; (DELEON) LATINO COMISSION ON AIDS

EVERYDAY December

sense of belonging and strength.

On my journey of self-love, I realized that HIV was not a reflection of my worth. I embarked on a path of selfdiscovery, exploring my passions, nurturing my physical and mental well-being and celebrating the beauty within. By prioritizing self-care and surrounding myself with positivity, I found the courage to love myself unconditionally.

My love for myself evolved into a desire to inspire others. I became an advocate for HIV awareness, sharing my story through various platforms, speaking engagements and social media. By empowering others, I discovered the true extent of my resilience and the potential to effect change on a larger scale.

Living with HIV is a constant journey, filled with ups and downs. However, through self-love, support and advocacy, I have not only learned to survive but to thrive. I no longer see myself as a victim but as a survivor, a beacon of hope for others navigating their own journeys.

My journey of resilience while living with HIV has taught me the transformative power of self-love, acceptance and advocacy. By sharing my story with the world, I hope to inspire others to embrace their own strength, challenge societal norms and realize that love

Jomil Lu n a

LET’S STOP HIV TOGETHER

Living well with HIV means HIV does not define your life.

“I can go to universi university ity and feel well. I can play sports and feel well. I can do every ythiing I did diid b efore and an nd liv ve well. well The Th he most im mportan nt th hing w as tak king car re everything before live important thing was taking care of myself and starting treatment.” — ANDRÉS FROM ORLANDO, FLORDIA STAY IN HIV CARE. LIVE WELL

cdc.gov/HIVTreatmentWorks

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SPOTLIGHT

BY JOE MEJÍA

USCHA 2023

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Themed “A Love Letter to Black Women,” this year’s U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA), held in Washington, DC, from September 6 through 9, celebrated the contributions of Black women to the fight against HIV. Organized by NMAC, whose executive director, Paul Kawata, was recently appointed to the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (see page 14), USCHA addressed best practices in telehealth, HIV stigma, trauma-informed care, biomedical HIV prevention and more via plenary sessions; deep-dive, single-issue “institutes”; and workshops.

Representative Maxine Waters (D–Calif.) headlined the opening plenary, during which the congresswoman praised Black women’s successes in the HIV epidemic while also underscoring the urgent need to combat House Republicans’ proposed cuts to HIV funding.

In her Gilead Sciences’ plenary remarks, original Dreamgirls and Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph noted the disproportionate impact of HIV on Black women and encouraged attendees to ask themselves, “How do we march forward holding the torch lit during this celebration of Black womanhood? How do we carry that light into the spaces that we occupy in our everyday lives?” As usual, USCHA gave us an opportunity to pause and appreciate our victories along the way to ending the epidemic, while reminding us of the distance remaining to the finish line.

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1. A special tribute by Gilead Sciences honored the contributions of 10 longtime veterans of the struggle for health equity, sexual and reproductive justice and HIV prevention. 2. During her powerful opening plenary remarks, Tatyana Moaton, PhD, executive director of Black and Pink, a prison abolitionist organization focusing on LGBTQ people and people with HIV, urged attendees: “Know that our battle is not just against a virus. It’s a battle for humanity, dignity, equity and the future of every young person who takes up this torch after us.” 3. Toni Young, executive director of the Community Education Group serving people with HIV in West Virginia and Appalachia, poses with Gabriel Maldonado, CEO of TruEvolution, which fights for health equity for LBGTQ+ people.

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(1) NEENA SMITH-BANKHEAD/FACEBOOK; (2) TATYANA MOATON/FACEBOOK (3) ATONIYOUNG/TWITTER; (4) TONIDNEMWAN/TWITTER; (5) HOPE HOUSE MEMPHIS/FACEBOOK; (6) MARK S. KING/TWITTER; (7) DR. JONO MERMIN/TWITTER; (8) NMACHIV/FACEBOOK

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4. The NMAC team oversaw the smooth operation of dozens of workshops, plenary sessions and an exhibit hall packed with more than 75 booths.

5. Hope House Memphis staffers were among the conference’s 4,000 attendees. The nonprofit serves people affected by HIV and poverty. 6. A video of HIV activist and poet Mary Bowman reciting her poem “Dandelions” played during the opening plenary.

Bowman, who was born with HIV, died in 2019 at age 30. 7. Jonathan Mermin, MD, MPH, director of the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention; Kaye Hayes, MPA, director of the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy; and Harold Phillips, MRP, director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, attended a listening session on Black cisgender women living with HIV. 8. Emmy winner and longtime HIV advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph headlined Gilead Sciences’ plenary “In Her We Trust: She Is Glorious.”

Send your event photos to POZ at website@poz.com or tag us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. For a list of community events, visit poz.com/calendar.

poz.com DECEMBER 2023 POZ 13

VOICES BLOGS AND OPINIONS FROM POZ.COM

PACHA AT LAST

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HANK YOU, PRESIDENT BIDEN and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Becerra for my appointment to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA).

With my big mouth, I’m sure it was not an easy decision. To be clear, my musings are mine alone. I do not speak for PACHA or the administration. Sometimes, even NMAC wants distance from what I say.

I need HHS and related agencies to succeed. Ending the epidemic means I get to go home.

I wanted to go on PACHA before I died. My commitment is to work collaboratively, follow the rules and be an activist member who challenges the administration to do better. There are so many opportunities and threats.

These are my current priorities: 1. Reaching the 2025 goals for ending the HIV epidemic; 2. Overturning House cuts to HIV appropriations; 3. PEPFAR [President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief] reauthorization; 4. Eliminating Freedom Caucus riders; 5. Stopping Braidwood v. Becerra from reaching the Supreme Court; 6. Stopping states from turning back their HIV funding; 7. Fighting the weaponization of the HIV community in the 2024 elections.

At the start of the epidemic, many

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health departments and health care providers refused to provide basic services that our communities desperately needed. They were afraid, and we were treated like lepers—a new class of untouchables. I remember going to hospitals and changing into space suits that would keep me from hugging my friends, who were scared and alone.

AIDS changed everything, especially the relationship between patients and providers. HIV caught doctors flatfooted, so people with AIDS (PWA) had to become their own best advocates.

That meant learning the science and schooling providers. This was the beginning of PWA empowerment, which led to the creation of The Denver Principles.

Based on The Denver Principles and the value of self-determination, activists worked with Congress to write legislation that required planning bodies. While common practice now, back then, it was revolutionary. Letting community be part of the decision-making was not easy for government officials, and there were many years of mistrust.

Do not take your seat at the table for granted. Not speaking up is a disservice to the heroes who fought and died to get us to the table. Sometimes we forget that people died. They died painful, awful deaths. We stand on their shoulders and have a responsibility to do the

right thing, especially when it is not easy.

This is not the time for complacency.

The threats are real, and our movement must fight for solutions that are thoughtful, comprehensive and robust: 1. Too many people living with HIV are unaware of their status or have fallen out of care and off their meds.

2. There are too few people on preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV. We won’t see the community-level benefits of treatment as prevention until we get a national PrEP Plan.

3. HIV was already stigmatized; the new policies that deny care for the transgender community (multiple state bills), HIV PrEP for gay men (Braidwood) or turn back state HIV prevention funds (Tennessee) make destigmatizing the virus impossible.

4. Ending the epidemic takes money, and our movement is hemorrhaging donors.

It is an honor and privilege to be on PACHA. To everyone on planning bodies, thank you. We stand on the shoulders of heroes. Our job is to speak up and fight for all the communities highly impacted

by HIV. Telling your truth and fighting back is a gift from The Denver Principles.

While I have no influence on who gets selected (so please do not email me), nominations for new PACHA members will be accepted up to January 5, 2024. Q

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In a blog post titled “Thank You, President Biden,” NMAC executive director Paul Kawata announces his appointment to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Below is an edited excerpt.

USING SOCIAL MEDIA Below is an edited excerpt from a blog post titled “Social Media, HIV Advocacy and Your Voice” by The Well Project, a nonprofit that focuses on HIV among women and girls across the gender spectrum.

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SING SOCIAL MEDIA AND communicating through mainstream media can be great ways to inform the public about the issues, concerns and day-to-day realities of people living with HIV. It can also be a little scary at first. By following a few simple guidelines, you can approach working with social or traditional media with a sense of confidence and control.

In the past several years, social media has become extremely important for nonprofit organizations, causes, public figures and individual advocates to get information out to large groups of people at little or no cost.

Although social media can be a wonderful tool for networking and communicating, it is important to think about how and what you share on the internet in general.

Here are a few suggestions to keep you safe and help you get your message across when using social media: • Nervous about what to say or how to say it? Try to relax and remember that people are reading what you write. Write or type as if you were talking to a real person. Keep it simple, and, as much as possible, be positive.

Some sites will block you from participating if you are too negative or critical online, if you slam or drag others or

if you use vulgar language.

• On the other hand, many internet users behave poorly toward others without consequence, while some instances of language not intended to be vulgar (such as sexual health education) or hateful (such as using a term to describe one’s identity that others do not agree with) have been flagged as offensive. It may be a good idea to be aware of this occasional double standard, but try not to let it affect your well-intentioned communications.

• While some websites may be accessible only to members, it is best to assume that whatever you put on the internet can be seen by anyone. What you share online may be seen by people outside your intended audience, including family members, work colleagues and others. Although it is a good idea to keep your tone conversational (like talking to a real person), remember that you are not just talking to your best friends.

• To protect your identity and confidentiality, be careful not to share personal information, such as your home address, phone number, birth date or Social Security number. Just as with an interview, identify yourself online as you wish to be identified— use your full name only if you are comfortable doing so. You may choose to

use your initials or a pseudonym (a made-up cybername, or handle) to protect your confidentiality. Also remember not to share other information that can be used to identify you (such as the name of the clinic you go to) or others without their consent.

• Adjust your privacy settings to a level of visibility that feels comfortable for you. You can decide whether you want only “Friends” to see your posts or whether you want your posts to be “Public” or some other setting. This must be done manually.

• When writing or posting information for a blog, try to keep your comments under 500 words, and tell a story about one particular topic or issue. It can be helpful to consider your audience (who is likely to read what you post) and to use a creative title to attract attention.

• Just the facts! We live in an age of “fake news” and “alternative facts,” especially when it comes to health topics like HIV. Misinformation and disinformation can be detrimental to your cause and confusing to your audience. It is fine to post based on your opinions, but when the conversation turns to facts, be sure to share accurate, evidence-based information from trusted sources so as not to contribute to these dangerous trends. Q

poz.com DECEMBER 2023 POZ 15

BASICS

BY LIZ HIGHLEYMAN

A PrEP PRIMER

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RE-EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS, better known as PrEP, refers to antiretroviral pills or injections taken regularly to prevent HIV. Although PrEP is highly effective, it has yet to reach its full potential: Less than a third of people who could benefit from PrEP are using it.

There are currently three approved PrEP options: • Truvada (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine, or TDF/FTC) was approved for PrEP in 2012. It is indicated for all populations at risk for HIV. It is usually taken once daily, but using it “on demand” before and after sex (PrEP 2-1-1) also works well. Studies of cisgender gay men and transgender women showed that daily Truvada is around 99% effective if used consistently.

Truvada PrEP is also effective for cisgender women, but they may need to maintain better adherence. Truvada is generally well tolerated, but it can cause minor side effects, such as nausea, that usually resolve over time.

TDF can cause kidney problems and bone loss in susceptible individuals.

• Descovy (tenofovir alafenamide/ emtricitabine, or TAF/FTC) was approved for PrEP in 2019. It is indicated for cisgender men and transgender women, but due to a lack of evidence, it is not yet approved for people exposed to HIV

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via vaginal sex. Descovy is taken once daily. The DISCOVER trial showed that daily Descovy PrEP is as effective as daily Truvada for cisgender gay men and trans women; studies of cisgender women are underway. Descovy is also generally well tolerated. TAF is easier on the kidneys and bones than TDF, but it has been linked to elevated blood fat levels and weight gain.

• Apretude (long-acting cabotegravir) was approved for HIV prevention in 2021. It is indicated for all populations at risk for HIV. It is an injection administered by a health care provider every other month. The HPTN 083 trial showed that Apretude was even more effective than daily PrEP pills for cisgender gay men and transgender women, while HPTN 084 found that it was substantially more effective for cisgender women in Africa. Apretude is generally well tolerated. The most common side effect is temporary pain, redness or swelling at the injection site.

ACCESSING PREP PrEP is for HIV-negative people at increased risk for acquiring the virus, including those who have sex partners who are HIV positive or of unknown status, do not consistently use condoms or have recently been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection. PrEP is

also indicated for people who inject drugs, but there has been little research on its effectiveness for this group.

An estimated 1.2 million Americans could benefit from PrEP, but only about 30% had a prescription in 2021, according to the CDC. While urban white gay men have eagerly adopted PrEP, uptake has been slower for other groups, including Black and Latino gay men, women, adolescents and young adults, and people in rural areas.

In an effort to improve uptake, the CDC now advises that providers should inform all sexually active adults and adolescents about PrEP and prescribe it to anyone who asks for it, as this may “help patients overcome embarrassment or stigma that could prevent them from telling their health care provider about their HIV risk factors.”

Truvada, Descovy and Apretude are expensive, but most people can get PrEP for free or at reduced cost. Generic TDF/FTC is now widely available.

Private insurers will soon be required to cover all types of PrEP (see page 20).

Other coverage options include Medicaid, Medicare, city and state PrEP programs and financial assistance from Gilead Sciences or ViiV Healthcare. Many AIDS service organizations have navigators who can help you find a way to access PrEP. Q

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Two daily pill options and long-acting injections effectively prevent HIV.

RESEARCH NOTES

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BY LIZ HIGHLEYMAN

PREVENTION

TREATMENT

CURE

CONCERNS

Long-Acting PrEP

A Feasible Option?

CRISPR Gene Editing

Fatty Liver

When given a choice, most African women chose longacting cabotegravir injections (Apretude) over daily pills for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The HPTN 084 trial enrolled more than 3,000 mostly young cisgender women in sub-Saharan Africa. They were randomly assigned to receive cabotegravir injections every two months or once-daily tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/ emtricitabine pills (TDF/FTC).

Women who received the injections had a 92% lower risk of acquiring HIV, largely thanks to better adherence.

After the randomized portion of the trial, participants were offered the PrEP method of their choice, and 78% chose cabotegravir. These women said they preferred injections over daily pills, desired a more convenient or discrete PrEP method or valued cabotegravir’s high effectiveness. Women who chose TDF/FTC preferred to take pills, were worried about injection pain or side effects, wished to get pregnant or wanted efficient clinic visits.

PrEP rollout in Africa has been slow, and offering more prevention options could increase uptake and encourage consistent use.

Cabenuva (injectable cabotegravir plus rilpivirine) administered by a health care provider once monthly or every other month may be a feasible option for people who can’t maintain viral suppression using daily pills due to difficulties with adherence or other challenges. The Food and Drug Administration approved Cabenuva in 2021 but only as a switch option for those who already have an undetectable viral load. A recent case series described 12 people with unsuppressed virus who started Cabenuva as salvage therapy at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. They received extensive support, including case management, telephone follow-up and transportation assistance. All achieved viral suppression within three months, and none experienced viral rebound.

The mean CD4 count rose by 184. Adherence was good despite a history of poor adherence to oral meds.

Based on these and similar findings, some experts suggest changing treatment guidelines to include Cabenuva for people without viral suppression when other options aren’t working.

A novel CRISPR gene therapy that removes an HIV-like virus from infected cells in monkeys is now being tested in humans. HIV inserts its genetic blueprints into the DNA of host cells, establishing a long-lasting reservoir that antiretrovirals can’t reach, making a cure nearly impossible. Researchers at Temple University administered a single injection of EBT-100— a CRISPR-Cas9 therapy that targets three sites on the integrated viral genome— to monkeys on daily antiretrovirals, starting 28 days after simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection. They observed gene editing of SIV DNA in all significant reservoir sites with no off-target effects or other evidence of toxicity. Monkeys that received the two higher EBT-100 doses showed an improvement in lymphocyte counts, appeared healthier and gained weight. Last year, Excision BioTherapeutics announced that the first participant received EBT-100 in a Phase I/II clinical trial.

If the gene therapy appears safe and well tolerated, participants will undergo a careful antiretroviral treatment interruption to see whether their HIV rebounds.

Fatty liver disease is common among people with HIV, and it is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Researchers analyzed hepatic steatosis, or liver fat buildup, in the large REPRIEVE trial, which tested a statin drug for HIVpositive people with low to moderate cardiovascular risk.

A subset of 687 participants underwent CT scans to assess liver fat. About one in five had hepatic steatosis, and a similar proportion had nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). These conditions were linked to obesity, insulin resistance, abnormal blood fat levels, inflammatory biomarkers and higher CVD risk scores. There was no observed association with viral load, CD4 count or type of antiretroviral treatment, which is reassuring because some HIV meds have been linked to fatty liver disease and weight gain. Another study found that HIV-positive people with NAFLD are more likely to experience cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes.

There are currently no approved medications for NAFLD, so management relies on lifestyle changes such as exercise and weight loss.

poz.com DECEMBER 2023 POZ 19

CARE & TREATMENT

BY LIZ HIGHLEYMAN

Task Force Favors More PrEP Options

A NEW TYPE OF HIV VACCINE The first participant in a Phase I trial has received an experimental preventive vaccine, dubbed VIR-1388, which is designed to help the immune system produce T cells that fight HIV. The vaccine uses a weakened cytomegalovirus (CMV) vector to deliver HIV antigens.

So far, traditional HIV vaccines that stimulate the production of antibodies have failed in large trials. A more sophisticated strategy known as germline targeting, which aims to spur the development of specialized B cells that produce broadly neutralizing antibodies, is still in early stages of development. Vir Biotechnology is taking a different approach based on T-cell immunity, rather than antibodies, in an effort to prevent the virus from establishing chronic infection.

The HVTN 142 trial is enrolling people at risk for HIV in the United States and South Africa who already have asymptomatic CMV infection.

The 95 participants will be randomly assigned to receive one of three doses of VIR-1388 or placebo injections. Initial results are expected in the second half of 2024.

“HIV continues to be a major global public health challenge with no approved vaccines despite decades of research efforts,” says Carey Hwang, MD, PhD, Vir’s senior vice president for clinical research. “We are hopeful that our unique approach will help close the longstanding public health gap in HIV prevention.”

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In August, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended that health care providers prescribe all approved preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) methods for people at risk for HIV. The recommendation adds daily tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine pills (TAF/FTC, or Descovy) and long-acting cabotegravir injections (Apretude) to its 2019 recommendation of daily tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine pills (TDF/FTC, or Truvada and generic equivalents).

All three PrEP options are highly effective, reducing the risk of HIV acquisition by more than 99% if used consistently. Truvada and Apretude are approved for all individuals at risk for HIV. However, due to a lack of evidence, Descovy is not approved for people who are at risk for acquiring the virus via vaginal sex.

The expanded recommendation received an A grade, meaning it is well supported by scientific data. The Affordable Care Act requires insurers to fully cover recommended prevention services with an A or B grade.

Health officials and advocates hope the recommendation will help increase PrEP uptake, especially for groups such as Black gay men, who have a higher HIV incidence but lower PrEP use. However, the coverage requirement is jeopardized by a lawsuit from conservative business owners who claim it violates their religious freedom.

“The current court challenge to the preventive services coverage requirement, if successful, would put more people at risk for HIV and other serious infectious diseases and would be a major setback to efforts to end HIV as an epidemic,” said Carlos del Rio, MD, of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and Michelle Cespedes, MD, of the HIV Medicine Association.

HEALTH STATUS OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a new report showing that more work is needed to improve health and quality of life for people with HIV. The data come from the Medical Monitoring Project, an annual survey of adults diagnosed with HIV in the United States.

The latest survey, which covered June 2021 through May 2022, included 3,995 participants in 16 states.

More than two thirds of participants (69%) rated their health as good, very good or excellent, as opposed to poor or fair, down from 72% in 2018. Over a quarter (28%) said they had an unmet need for mental health services, up from 24%. The level of perceived HIV stigma remained stable.

Most people (95%) received some HIV care, and 80% were prescribed antiretroviral treatment, but the proportion who remained engaged in care was lower, at 71%. Two thirds had a viral load below 200 on their last test, but just 62% had sustained viral suppression over the past year.

Nearly 90% reported that they used at least one strategy to prevent sexual transmission of HIV, including maintaining an undetectable viral load, using condoms or having sex with partners who were also HIV positive or taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

Overall, the survey findings show some improvements over the past half decade, including a drop in food insecurity and unstable housing. But the increased need for mental health services and the lower proportion reporting good health show a need for further progress.

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Mpox Vaccines and Immunity People with repeat mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) infections and those who contract the virus despite vaccination appear less likely to develop severe illness.

The global mpox outbreak that started in May 2022 has declined dramatically since its peak late last summer, but sporadic clusters are still being reported. Studies to date have yielded varying estimates of mpox vaccine effectiveness, and a substantial proportion of people in recent case clusters were vaccinated.

The international SHARE-net Clinical Group analyzed 37 cases of mpox after past infection or vaccination, all involving gay or bisexual men. Seven were reinfected, 29 were infected after receiving two doses of the Jynneos vaccine and one was both vaccinated and reinfected. The eight men living with HIV were on antiretroviral treatment with an undetectable viral load and an adequate CD4 T-cell count. Studies have shown that HIV-positive people with advanced immune suppression are prone to severe mpox, but not those with well-controlled HIV. Men with repeat or post-vaccination infections had fewer and less severe mpox sores that healed more quickly. The clinical presentation differed from initial infections reported in 2022, which were often characterized by severe, painful anal lesions or debilitating mouth or throat lesions. There were no deaths in the new cohort, and all but one were managed as outpatients. In contrast, around 10% of cases reported in 2022 required hospitalization.

“Natural immunity and vaccine-induced immunity are not fully protective against mpox infection. However, in this small series, both disease duration and severity appear to be reduced,” the study authors wrote.

poz.com DECEMBER 2023 POZ 21

Working Together to End HIV

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HIS YEAR’S POZ 100 CELEBRATES THE COLLECTIVE effort by advocates of all kinds to end the HIV epidemic. We’re spotlighting 100 entities, including organizations, agencies, networks and initiatives, that are making an impact across the country and around the world in combating HIV and its stigma. In 2022, an estimated 1.3 million new HIV cases were reported globally—a 38% decline in new diagnoses since 2010. Forty-plus years since the start of the HIV epidemic, we have the tools and the know-how to effectively prevent and treat the virus. Collectively, we’ve made a lot of headway, but there’s still much more work to do. For instance, of the nearly 1.2 million people living with HIV in the United States, about 13% don’t even know they have the virus.

This year’s POZ 100 represents just a fraction of the myriad forces fighting HIV. Whether tackling racism, homophobia or HIV stigma, providing care and support, championing HIV research or raising much-needed funds, the POZ 100 honorees have reshaped the landscape of HIV awareness, prevention and treatment.

Many of those on the list will be familiar, as they have been in the fight since the beginning. The list includes government agencies, global advocacy powerhouses, national nonprofits, community centers, coalitions of people living with HIV, grassroots initiatives and much more. It represents the diversity of approaches required to defeat this public health epidemic. On a global and local level, we must continue to eliminate social and structural barriers to care and amplify the voices of those living with and affected by the virus.

We thank all the honorees for their unwavering commitment to the cause. Together, we are building a brighter future. Together, we can end HIV. poz.com DECEMBER 2023 POZ 23

The POZ 100 Working Together to End HIV

ACTION FRONT CENTER AT ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY abcinfo.org/action-front-center

Based in Rochester, New York, Action Front Center (AFC) is one of several programs offered by Action for a Better Community, a communitybased agency that provides various opportunities for low-income individuals and families to become self-sufficient.

AFC provides evidence-based HIV, sexually transmitted infection (STI) and hepatitis C prevention and testing services as well as linkage to health care and supportive services for people living with or at risk for HIV. All services are free and available in English and Spanish. The program offers educational prevention groups, individual risk-reduction counseling and information about and access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV. AFC trains people living with HIV to deliver peer-led outreach and education services, distributes free condoms, starts conversations about eliminating HIV and offers customized outreach and services for men of color.

ADAP ADVOCACY adapadvocacy.org

ADAP Advocacy was formed to help improve access to care for people living with HIV and AIDS. It works to promote and enhance the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), which provides medications for HIV treatment to those who cannot afford them. ADAP Advocacy works closely with patients, advocates, health care providers and others to raise awareness, offer patient education and expand community collaboration. The nonprofit centers the voices of individuals living with HIV; indeed, half of its current board is living with the virus. The ADAP Directory is a one-stop online resource that links people to the information and medical care and treatment options they need to lead healthy, productive lives.

ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH advocatesforyouth.org

Advocates for Youth aims to ensure that the rights of all young people are respected and that they have the necessary tools and information to protect themselves from HIV, STIs and unintended pregnancy. Its website offers resources for various sexual health issues, including HIV, honest sex

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education, contraception access, and HIV and LGBTQ health and rights and features dozens of educational fact sheets. The group’s Youth Activist Network includes 75,000 individuals on 1,200 campuses in tens of thousands of U.S. communities and more than 120 countries. Advocates for Youth coordinates a series of events and activities for National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day, observed annually on April 10. The organization also partners with Trojan condoms on The Condom Collective, an annual program that provides 1,000 college students a box of 500 condoms each to distribute to anyone who needs them.

THE AFIYA CENTER theafiyacenter.org

The Afiya Center works to transform the lives of Black women and girls in Texas. The reproductive justice organization was formed in response to a lack of programs for poor, marginalized women, who face an increased risk for HIV. The Afiya Center believes that reproductive justice plays an important role in reducing HIV transmission among women of color. Since 2016, the organization’s Texas Black Womxn’s Reproductive Justice Summit has convened Black women in Texas to lead the conversation on issues regarding Black women’s reproductive health. The center also promotes HIV education and programming that addresses the socioeconomic disparities that Black women living with and at risk for HIV face. Its trauma-informed, peer-led Living Out Loud: With a Purpose project offers Black cisgender and transgender women living with HIV a safe space to share their stories.

AIDS EDUCATION AND TRAINING CENTER aidsetc.org

Funded under Part F of the Ryan White HIV/ AIDS Program, AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETCs) transform HIV care across the nation by providing locally based, tailored education, clinical consultation and technical assistance to health care providers who serve people living with or affected by HIV. The AETC training program targets providers serving marginalized communities with high incidence and prevalence rates of HIV, including unhoused, incarcerated and LGBTQ people. The AETC has two national centers, eight regional centers and more than 85 local sites and offers interactive training activities that allow providers to work directly within communities in need alongside local HIV experts. There’s even an app to support health care providers with point-of-care tools for HIV screening, prevention and care.

The POZ 100 Working Together to End HIV

AIDS LAW PROJECT OF PENNSYLVANIA aidslawpa.org

Founded in 1988, AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, which serves residents of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is the nation’s only independent public-interest law firm dedicated to providing free legal services to people living with HIV and those vulnerable to acquiring it. The organization helps people facing legal issues concerning housing, benefits, immigration, discrimination, HIV privacy and criminalization and more. For example, a 2018 case brought against Aetna for violating customers’ HIV privacy ended with the health insurer having to pay a $17 million settlement. AIDS Law Project also educates the public about AIDS-related legal issues, trains case managers to be better advocates and works to achieve fair laws and policies at all levels of government.

For the past 25 years, it has published “Good Counsel,” a semiannual newsletter.

AIDS/LIFECYCLE aidslifecycle.org

545 miles. 7 days. 1 mission.

AIDS/LifeCycle is an annual fundraiser in which cyclists ride through some of California’s most beautiful countryside from San Francisco to Los Angeles in an effort to help stop HIV. Since 1994, the event has raised more than $300 million to fund HIV testing, prevention and care services for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The weeklong ride is fully supported by more than 600 volunteer roadies who serve meals and provide medical support, bike support and more at rest stops along the route. Throughout the year, organizers help cyclists train and fundraise, and community partners offer discounts on bikes, gear and other support.

AIDS UNITED aidsunited.org

Although AIDS United wasn’t officially formed until 2011, its roots in policy and advocacy work date back to the earliest days of the HIV epidemic. The group’s road map to end the epidemic consists of six action pillars: commit to ending the U.S. HIV epidemic and eliminate health disparities; ensure broad and equitable access to effective HIV care and treatment; prevent new HIV transmissions; address social and structural barriers to effective HIV prevention and care; maintain U.S. leadership in lifesaving research; and support the meaningful involvement of people living with and vulnerable to HIV. AIDS United also organizes AIDSWatch,

which annually convenes hundreds of people living with HIV and their allies in Washington, DC, to learn about the latest policy issues and to lobby members of Congress for HIV- and AIDS-related funding.

AIDSVU aidsvu.org

Created by Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health in partnership with drugmaker Gilead Sciences and the Center for AIDS Research at Emory, this 11-year-old interactive site features new data releases, maps, educational resources, infographics and more to help users better understand the HIV epidemic. The site culls data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local health departments and other sources to offer users a perspective of the epidemic at the state, county and ZIP code levels. AIDSVu’s maps illustrate HIV-related data by race/ethnicity, sex, age and mode of transmission. The site also allows users to locate services for HIV prevention, testing and care and lists HIV trial locations funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A recent data update showed an unmet need for PrEP to prevent HIV among African Americans, Latinos and people living in the South.

AMFAR amfar.org

Since 1985, amfAR’s mission has been to end the global HIV and AIDS epidemic through innovative research. One of the world’s leading nonprofits dedicated to supporting AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education and advocacy, amfAR has invested more than $635 million in its programs and has awarded more than 3,500 grants to research teams worldwide. In recent years, it has invested nearly $53 million in 109 cure-focused projects in 15 countries, including those using cell and gene therapy, “shock and kill” techniques and posttreatment control.

APLA HEALTH aplahealth.org

Founded in 1983 (as AIDS Project Los Angeles), APLA Health offers free and low-cost primary care to the LGBTQ community, including access to PrEP and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and specialty care for folks living with HIV. It runs HIVE (HIV Elders), which offers an array of social activities for gay and bisexual men over age 50 living with

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CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE

It takes passion, courage, commitment, and fearless advocacy to lead and make meaningful progress in HIV. Black women leaders have been championing change for decades. Gilead is proud to honor and recognize these 10 women for all the hard work they’ve done and continue to do in igniting change in the HIV community.

GILEAD, and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc. All other marks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. © 2023 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. US-UNBC-1803 10/23

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A CELEBRATION OF BLACK WOMEN CHANGEMAKERS IN HIV

To learn more about these Champions of Change, visit www.gileadhiv.com GileadHIV.com

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@gileadhivus

@GileadHIVUS

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The POZ 100 Working Together to End HIV

HIV. APLA Health has seven locations throughout Los Angeles, including its latest center in West Hollywood, named for pioneering HIV doctor Michael Gottlieb, MD. The group also offers dental care and tailored services for women and transgender people. It is a leading advocate for HIV and LGBTQ issues and for HIV funding on the city, state and federal levels.

ARKANSAS BLACK GAY MEN’S FORUM arbgmf.org

The Arkansas Black Gay Men’s Forum is a local network dedicated to providing services that address health, social and economic disparities. Formed in 2017, it runs the Utopia LGBTQ Health and Wellness program, which focuses on reducing HIV transmission—through increased HIV testing and access to PrEP—and increasing the number of HIVpositive people who are virally suppressed. The program also offers culturally competent primary health care for Black and Latinx LGBTQ individuals. The Forum holds a weekly support group and a spiritual event titled Sacred Ground that’s held every fourth Sunday. It also hosts events during Little Rock Black Pride. Its executive director, Antoine Ghoston, recently traveled to the White House to participate in the half-day forum Communities in Action: Building a Better America.

ASSOCIATION OF NURSES IN AIDS CARE nursesinaidscare.org

Knowledge, collaboration, advocacy, diversity and support are the core values of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC), which has local chapters spanning the globe.

Through continuing education and certification programs, webinars, conferences and advocacy tool kits, ANAC ensures that nurses and related health care professionals are armed with the latest knowledge and best practices concerning quality care for people living with HIV. Educational courses and resources cover such topics as brain health, aging with HIV, prevention (including PrEP), inclusive spaces, criminalization, mpox (previously known as monkeypox) and more. Thanks to ANAC, nurses are better able to support and care for their HIV patients.

AUNT RITA’S FOUNDATION auntritas.org

True to its tagline, Aunt Rita’s Foundation serves as the connector of Arizona’s HIV community. Since 1988, the nonprofit has provided millions of dollars to HIV programs.

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Along with its many community partners, the Phoenix-based group distributes free home HIV test kits through GetTestedAZ .org and provides vouchers for confidential clinical testing at 100 Safeway and Sonora Quest locations statewide. Its signature events include AIDS Walk Arizona and RED is the Night, a glam annual fundraising event. The organization also works with the state health department to increase awareness of HIV and AIDS through HIVAZ.org, which also functions as a bilingual one-stop directory for HIV and AIDS resources and services in Arizona, including PrEP, HIV case management, harm reduction and much more. On top of all that, it lobbies the state legislature for laws and policies supporting the fight against HIV. AUNTIE HELEN’S auntiehelens.org

It’s best known as a beloved thrift store and HIV charity, but there’s more to Auntie Helen’s than retro threads and cute knickknacks. The San Diego–based nonprofit launched in 1988 as a fluff-and-fold laundry service for people with AIDS, who at the time were often discriminated against in laundromats or physically unable to wash their own clothes; to this day, the service is available to eligible clients. Today, in addition to providing clothing and blankets for clients, Auntie Helen’s volunteers collect donated food and deliver food packages to nearly 1,600 families. Under its current leadership, Auntie Helen’s is expanding to offer Alcoholics Anonymous and other recovery meetings, meditation sessions, nutritional classes and more.

AVAC avac.org

AVAC is an international advocacy organization founded on the belief that HIV prevention is a pathway to global health equity.

The organization advocates for a comprehensive response to the HIV epidemic that includes testing, antibody-related research and vaccines for prevention. AVAC also pushes for multipurpose prevention strategies that simultaneously address more than one sexual and reproductive health concern. In 2020, AVAC launched PrEPWatch, an interactive online tool that allows users to explore global data and info on PrEP. AVAC’s strategic partnerships and projects are a testament to the group’s commitment to supporting communities most affected by HIV and developing long-term solutions for ending the epidemic.

The POZ 100 Working Together to End HIV

BLACK LADIES IN PUBLIC HEALTH bliph.10web.me

Started in 2016, Black Ladies in Public Health is a network of more than 16,000 Black female public health students, community partners and professionals. The group specializes in maternal health, mental health, cardiovascular disease, women’s health and HIV. It promotes advocacy, education, community engagement, research, policy development and more. The group recently partnered with HIV drugmaker ViiV Healthcare to present Black Girls Spring for R&R!, a community-developed and -led initiative designed for and by Black women to disrupt disparities in HIV care and treatment. In March, 48 Black women gathered at Tuskegee University in Alabama to kick off the initiative.

BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS broadwaycares.org

Drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theater, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) helps provide health care, lifesaving medications, nutritious meals, support and emergency financial assistance to people living with HIV. The red buckets used during BC/EFA’s annual in-theater fundraising campaign are a familiar sight to most theater aficionados. Since 1992, BC/ EFA’s annual burlesque show, Broadway Bares, which features Broadway performers baring their stuff, has raised millions of dollars. BC/EFA provides yearly grants to more than 450 HIV and family service organizations across the country. Since 1988, the organization has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV and other serious health conditions. In October, its annual Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction, which gives fans countless opportunities to meet their favorite stars and purchase theatrical memorabilia, raised a record-breaking $1.2 million for the organization.

BU WELLNESS NETWORK buwellness.org

BU Wellness Network was originally formed as a support group for Black same-genderloving men at the height of the HIV epidemic. Today, the Indianapolis-based nonprofit provides free services to 35% of all Black people living with HIV in Indiana, making

it the largest Black-focused HIV service organization in the state. BU Wellness offers HIV prevention services as well as nonmedical case management, emergency rent and utility assistance, medical transportation and other supportive services. The organization’s food and nutrition program Eat and Thrive (EAT) promotes healthy eating and features a monthly YouTube video in which a nutritionist and a staffer cook a healthy meal. BU Wellness also offers free fresh produce three days a week.

CASCADE AIDS PROJECT capnw.org

The Cascade AIDS Project (CAP) is the oldest and largest community-based provider of HIV services, education, housing and advocacy in Oregon and Southwest Washington. The nonprofit helps people living with HIV access essential medical care and secure housing and offers peer support and other free services, including health insurance navigation, HIV and STI testing and linkage to PrEP. Children living with and/or affected by HIV and AIDS can attend CAP’s Camp KC, a free weeklong overnight camp supported by numerous donors and about 50 volunteers with a background in mental health, social work or psychology. CAP’s Aging Well program is aimed at supporting long-term survivors and other adults aging with HIV. CAP recently helped write Oregon House Bill 2574, the first-ever legislation in the nation that clears barriers to emergency PEP for HIV prevention.

CENTER FOR BLACK HEALTH & EQUITY centerforblackhealth.org

The Center for Black Health & Equity (The Center) is a North Carolina–based nonprofit that facilitates programs and services to benefit communities and people of African descent.

The Center advocates for equitycentered policies to address the social and economic injustices that have given rise to the health disparities experienced by African Americans, especially concerning tobacco control, COVID-19, HIV and AIDS, women’s health, cancer and mental health. It supports anti-stigma campaigns and programs that educate African Americans about HIV testing, treatment and living well with HIV. The Center provides consulting, training and technical assistance and connections to expert speakers for talks and keynote speeches. In September, the Center hosted its State of Black Health conference in Puerto Rico, where hundreds of community leaders and equity advocates gathered to brainstorm ways to achieve health justice and equity.

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CENTER FOR HIV LAW AND POLICY hivlawandpolicy.org

The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP) is a national resource and strategy center focused on laws and policies that are guided by racial, gender and economic justice. It works to end stigma, discrimination and violence toward people living with and affected by HIV, notably via its Positive Justice Project, a national coalition of organizations and individuals working to end HIV criminalization. CHLP teaches people about the HIV-specific statutes on the books in their state as well as how to fight for their right to privacy. CHLP also advocates for policies that guarantee comprehensive LGBTQ-affirming sexual health care for youth in government-operated and -regulated facilities.

CHICAGO BLACK GAY MEN’S CAUCUS chicagoblackgaymenscaucus.org

Founded in 2005, the Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus is the city’s only organization that focuses exclusively on improving the health of Black gay, bi and same-gender-loving (GBSGL) men. One of the group’s programs is The Prosperity Project, which was developed to improve representation by GBSGL men in local community planning efforts as well as their experience with health care and support services. The group hosts the Mind, Body and Soul Health and Wellness Circle, which is accessible via a mobile app and supports efforts to engage GBSGL men in a range of health-related services.

Other programming includes group exercise classes, yoga, massage therapy and nutrition and cooking classes. It also hosts LoveFest, an annual edutainment festival during which attendees can access free health and wellness resources, including HIV and STI testing.

COMMUNITY HEALTH PIER chpier.org

Founded by brother-andsister duo Cedric and Gloria Sturdevant, Community Health PIER (Prevention, Intervention, Education & Research) is dedicated to achieving health equity in rural Mississippi communities by offering individuals numerous tools and resources to help them make better-informed health choices. Using a holistic, hands-on approach to health, the nonprofit organizes community health walks, hosts educational events

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and trains individuals in agriculture via community gardens.

Services it offers include HIV education, prevention and rapid testing as well as breast and heart health awareness.

Sadly, Gloria died this past August.

COOPERATIVE HEALTH HIV PROGRAM cooperativehealthhiv.org

Based in Columbia, South Carolina, the Cooperative Health HIV Program provides the full continuum of health care services for men and women, infants, children and youth. Thanks to funding from Ryan White Parts C and D, clients receive comprehensive, compassionate and affordable health care services in a confidential familycentered setting. Services include transportation, behavioral health counseling, housing support, medical case management, access to PrEP and PEP, dental care, nutritional support, emergency financial assistance and more. As proof of its commitment to the UNAIDS’s 90-90-90 targets (90% of people know their status, 90% of those are on treatment and 90% of those are undetectable), by 2019, Cooperative Health had linked 96% of its HIV patients to care.

THE DENVER PRINCIPLES poz.com/pdfs/denver_principles.pdf

In 1983, a group of people living with HIV gathered at the Fifth Annual National Lesbian and Gay Health Conference in Denver and drafted a revolutionary document now known as The Denver Principles.

The manifesto condemned attempts to label people living with AIDS (PLWAs) as “victims.” It outlined the rights of PLWAs as well as recommendations for health care professionals and all others. The Denver Principles demanded that PLWAs be involved in every level of decision-making regarding their health care. The principles launched the selfempowerment movement and are as relevant today as they were in the ’80s.

EAGLE PASS SAFE epsafe.org

Eagle Pass SAFE (Sexuality Advocacy for Everyone) is an LGBTQ resource center located in Eagle Pass, a town on the southwest Texas border. It’s the only organization in the rural area providing HIV prevention and LGBTQ-affirming services. Its mission is “to build visibility as a social group,

The POZ 100 Working Together to End HIV

build a stronger community and to celebrate diversity and gender variance.” The small-community based group offers 24/7 crisis counseling and provides a guide of LGBTQinclusive businesses in the area. It also sponsors the region’s annual Pride event and operates a donation center.

EDGE NEW JERSEY edgenj.org

The mission of EDGE (End Discrimination. Gain Equality) New Jersey is to respond compassionately and responsibly to those living with and at risk for HIV as well as members of the LGBTQ community. To that end, it provides many supportive services that not only link individuals to care but also help them stay in care. EDGE also offers an array of HIV prevention services, such as HIV and STI education and counseling, mobile HIV testing, free condom distribution and access to PEP and PrEP. Plus, Edge hosts numerous LGBTQ support groups for various age groups as well as groups for long-term survivors and those newly diagnosed with HIV. EISENHOWER HIV PROGRAM eisenhowerhealth.org/services/hiv

The HIV Program at Eisenhower Health provides comprehensive HIV primary care and offers clinical, research and educational resources for people living with and at risk for HIV in California’s Coachella Valley. Eisenhower uses advances in HIV treatment to sustain the best possible quality of life for those in its care. Eisenhower frequently collaborates with other local nonprofits at regional events to provide HIV-related resources, educational materials and referrals. This December, the Eisenhower Health Inaugural HIV Interprofessional Symposium will provide education and training to health care professionals to better address the health care needs of people living with HIV. ELIZABETH GLASER PEDIATRIC AIDS FOUNDATION pedaids.org

Founded in 1988 by Elizabeth Glaser and friends after Glaser’s daughter, Ariel, died of AIDS-related causes—Glaser herself died of the disease in 1994—the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation has become a proven leader in the global fight to end HIV and AIDS and advocates for every child to live a full and healthy life. With its expertise

in service delivery, capacity building, research and advocacy, the nonprofit is a leader in meeting the urgent needs of children with HIV in the world’s most affected regions.

It has helped reduce new HIV infections in children in the United States by more than 95% and by more than half in children globally.

THE ELIZABETH TAYLOR AIDS FOUNDATION elizabethtayloraidsfoundation.org

Hollywood legend and influential early AIDS activist Elizabeth Taylor founded the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991 to provide direct care to the most vulnerable people living with AIDS. The ever-evolving nonprofit recently launched the “Stuck in the 1980s” campaign, which asks members of the community to demand that legislators revisit laws (many of them passed in the ’80s) that criminalize HIV based on outdated science and assumptions. The group’s largest share of funding supports youth HIV education and prevention efforts, especially in the South. The nonprofit also funds mental health and wellness programs for U.S. women living with HIV, the Elizabeth Taylor 50+ Network at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and mobile clinics in Malawi. Taylor’s grandchildren carry on her legacy by serving as ambassadors for the foundation.

ELTON JOHN AIDS FOUNDATION eltonjohnaidsfoundation.org

Launched in 1990 by the Rocket Man himself, the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) makes a massive global impact. Its annual Academy Awards viewing party alone has raised over $90 million. In 2020, EJAF contributed $15 million to HIV causes, making it the fifth largest philanthropic funder of HIV programs that year.

Registered as separate U.S. and U.K. entities but operating as one organization, EJAF funds programs and collaborates with local groups to prevent, diagnose and treat HIV, notably among youth, LGBTQ people and people who use drugs.

Recently, EJAF collaborated with Walmart to train specialty pharmacists, and the foundation backed PrEP4All’s fight to launch a national PrEP program.

END HIV 901 endhiv901.org

Shelby County, Tennessee, which includes Memphis, is identified as one of the priority counties in the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative. According to CDC data published in 2022, 82% of newly diagnosed individuals

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The POZ 100 Working Together to End HIV

were linked to care within a month of their diagnosis. End HIV 901 is a collaborative effort intended to lower new HIV infection rates by 90% or more by 2030. Launched on social media in December 2020, End HIV 901 was awarded $12 million from the HHS Minority HIV/AIDS Fund. It has set up a community advisory board, which will issue grants to various local community groups focusing on four key strategies of the EHE’s A Plan for America: Diagnose, Treat, Prevent and Respond. The End HIV 901 website includes technical assistance for grant writing and a directory compiling HIV-related services and resources for other types of support throughout Shelby County.

ENDING THE HIV EPIDEMIC IN THE U.S. cdc.gov/endhiv

Launched in 2019 by President Donald Trump and coordinated by the Department of Health and Human Services, the 10-year federal initiative Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) in the U.S. aims to reduce new HIV infections by 75% by 2025 and by 90% by 2030. This would amount to fewer than 3,000 new HIV cases a year, according to the initiative, and would therefore meet the definition of ending the epidemic. The strategy is to focus federal HIV investments in the 57 key states, counties and cities that account for 50% of new HIV diagnoses. As we went to press, EHE’s future was uncertain, as Republican Congress members were threatening to defund the program.

EQUITAS HEALTH equitashealth.com

This Columbus, Ohio–based nonprofit community health care system is one of the nation’s largest organizations catering to the LGBTQ and HIV communities, providing services to tens of thousands of people in Ohio, Texas, Kentucky and West Virginia. Founded in 1984, it offers primary and specialized medical care, a pharmacy, dentistry, mental health and recovery services, HIV and STI treatment and prevention, access to PrEP and PEP, Ryan White HIV case management and advocacy and other community health initiatives. The Equitas Health Institute also offers training—online and in person—to organizations interested in creating more affirming environments for LGBTQ people. Equitas Health is the producer and primary beneficiary of AIDS Walk Ohio, which in the past eight years has raised $2 million for HIV-related services.

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FAST-TRACK CITIES fast-trackcities.org

Using UNAIDS’s 90-9090 initiative as a starting point, more than 300 cities and municipalities across the world participate in the Fast-Track Cities initiative.

Mayors and other officials have joined four global partners (the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, UNAIDS, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and the City of Paris) to get to zero new HIV infections and zero AIDS-related deaths worldwide by signing a declaration to help achieve the initiative’s 95-95-95 target.

The goal is to get 95% of people living with HIV to know their status, 95% of people who know their status on antiretroviral therapy and 95% of people on antiretroviral therapy to achieve a suppressed viral load. A web portal allows cities to report on their progress.

FUNDERS CONCERNED ABOUT AIDS fcaaids.org

Since 1987, the mission of Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) has been to inform, connect and support philanthropic efforts in response to the global HIV pandemic. More than 50 foundations and charities are FCAA members. The organization hosts an annual summit, monthly funder events and working groups to help ensure community-led approaches are embedded into HIV-informed funding. FCAA supports its members by helping to identify new opportunities for collaboration and is a driver of increased resources to underfunded regions, populations and interventions. The Philanthropic Support to Address HIV and AIDS is the group’s resource-tracking report; it includes data on more than 5,000 grants in order to identify gaps, trends and opportunities in HIV-related philanthropy.

THE GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA theglobalfund.org

For more than 20 years the Global Fund has invested $55.4 billion in the movement to end HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, improve health systems and fight injustice around the globe. The Fund provides 30% of all international financing for HIV programs. In fact, in countries where the Fund invests, AIDS-related deaths have dropped by 70% and new infections have decreased by 54% since 2002. By taking a pragmatic approach to reducing stigma, discrimi-

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nation and barriers to human rights, the Fund reaches the most vulnerable populations in need of health care services and resources.

GMHC gmhc.org

The world’s first HIV and AIDS service organization, GMHC (formerly Gay Men’s Health Crisis) has worked for more than 40 years to end the HIV epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected by offering programs and services that include linkage to care, HIV and STI testing, meals and nutritional information, substance use and mental health counseling and more. GMHC’s contributions have helped New York City achieve UNAIDS’s 90-90-90 goal for ending the epidemic. The organization advocates at the national, state and local levels for policies that protect the rights of people living with HIV as well as the LGBTQ community. Its National Resource Center on HIV and Aging offers news, events and resources for older adults with HIV. GMHC also hosts The Clubhouse, a drop-in space for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and gender-nonconforming youth of color and young adults and operates The Buddy Program, which pairs clients living with HIV with volunteers who provide social support and assistance. Several recent grants have helped triple GMHC’s supportive housing capabilities for homeless families, individuals living with HIV and AIDS and those with severe mental illness and substance use disorder.

GREATER THAN HIV greaterthan.org

Greater Than HIV offers myriad public health resources for HIV prevention, care, treatment, support and more from the nonprofit organization KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation). Greater Than HIV promotes open and consistent communication concerning sexual health care and education. Its online service locator allows users to find nearby HIV and STI testing, PrEP providers, health insurance and financial assistance. Free athome HIV tests by mail are also available to anyone ages 17 or older living in the United States (including Puerto Rico).

Greater Than HIV also offers up-to-date resources, including comprehensive statistics, downloadable digital graphics and mobile-friendly resources in English and Spanish. The site also features inspiring personal videos about prevention, testing and treatment. It recently teamed with the CDC’s “Let’s Stop HIV Together” campaign to create a new video series featuring leading public health experts discussing the latest in HIV, STIs and sexual health.

HEROES heroesla.org

HEROES works to support, educate and uplift communities in Northeast Louisiana through wellness programs, education and community healing. The organization was founded in 1995

by Monica Johnson, a single mother living with HIV who was frustrated by the lack of supportive services available in the rural area. Today, HEROES offers sexual wellness education to adults and teens, provides HIV resources (including free condoms), runs an after-school program, organizes a voter registration project and more. HEROES University, a small group intervention program, helps people living with HIV access available treatments and support groups in their communities. HEROES also hosts the annual three-day DREAM retreat, an immersive experience that connects people living with HIV to support, resources and healing. HEROES is currently raising funds to open a community center on nine acres of land once worked by enslaved people.

HIV+HEPATITIS POLICY INSTITUTE hivhep.org

The HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute promotes quality and affordable health care for people living with and at risk for HIV, hepatitis and other serious and chronic health conditions.

The national nonprofit leads advocacy efforts to ensure that there is necessary federal funding for both federal HIV and viral hepatitis programs. In addition, the institute aims to guarantee that people with HIV and/or hepatitis have access to comprehensive and quality health care, including preventive services, Medicaid and Medicare.

HIV MEDICINE ASSOCIATION hivma.org

The HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) is a member organization of HIV physicians, scientists and other health care professionals who are striving to end the HIV epidemic by advocating for a humane response that’s informed by science and social justice. Part of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, HIVMA prioritizes expanding access to health care services and coverage for those with or at risk for HIV and sustaining and building a robust and diverse HIV workforce, with a special focus

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on underserved communities. HIVMA provides primary care guidelines and professional development resources for HIV clinicians, including an online directory of HIV clinical training opportunities.

HIV PREVENTION TRIALS NETWORK hptn.org

Clinical trials can do more than prove whether medications are effective. For example, the team at HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN), a nonprofit based in North Carolina, helps develop the research, data and global network necessary to determine the best strategies to prevent and treat HIV. One of its most famous clinical trials, HPTN 052, provided the evidence behind U=U (Undetectable Equals Untransmittable), the fact that people with HIV who maintain an undetectable viral load don’t transmit the virus through sex. Currently, HPTN scientists are focused on studies to evaluate long-acting antiretrovirals, broadly neutralizing antibodies and technologies that can concurrently prevent HIV, pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

HIV VACCINE TRIALS NETWORK hvtn.org

This international collaboration of scientists, academics, ethicists, clinical trial participants and others helps design and conduct trials with the goal of developing safe and effective HIV vaccines (as well as those for COVID-19 and tuberculosis).

Based at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) conducts research and operates laboratories across the globe. Although experimental preventive vaccines have failed thus far, HVTN researchers remain hopeful as they explore broadly neutralizing antibodies, mRNA vaccines and other novel strategies. In fact, Phase I of its latest trial, HVTN 142, examining HIV vaccine candidate VIR-1388, launched this past summer in South Africa and the United States.

HIV.GOV hiv.gov

Managed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and launched in 2006 (originally as AIDS.gov), HIV.gov is the official federal website on HIV and AIDS. HIV.gov col-

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laborates with departments and agencies across the federal government and provides basic information regarding HIV prevention, testing and treatment, staying in care, living well with the virus and more. HIV.gov also provides info on HIV-related events and campaigns and highlights HIV awareness days. The site’s up-to-date blog offers visitors timely and relevant info on federal HIV policies, programs and resources. It recently launched a beta version of an HIV chatbot, which can answer questions about HIV testing, treatment and prevention and find HIV-related resources.

HOPE ON TTAPP hopeonttapp.com

Hope on TTAPP (which stands for Testing, Treatment and Peer-led Prevention) offers access to free, fast mobile HIV and hepatitis C testing, judgment-free prevention counseling and pathways to lifesaving medications across eight counties in Utah. Also known as HoT, the organization provides mobile harm reduction services to vulnerable populations in the state, including people who use and inject drugs, sex workers, people leaving prison, people of color, LGBTQ people and residents of rural areas who may be afraid to seek services due to stigma. Cofounded by executive director Sequan Kolibas in 2013 after her own struggle with an HIV diagnosis and addiction, the organization helps remove hurdles to care by providing testing, scheduling appointments and delivering food and medications. In short, HoT helps change lives by giving people hope and letting them know they matter.

HOUSING WORKS housingworks.org

For more than 30 years, Housing Works has been committed to ending the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through advocacy, lifesaving services and social enterprise businesses, such as its clientstaffed thrift stores. Unhoused and low-income New Yorkers are connected with access to supportive services, including housing, health care, job training, mental health counseling and more. Through street outreach, online tools and strategic partnerships, Housing Works also provides underserved LGBTQ youth with a judgement-free environment to learn about safer-sex practices and HIV prevention. In addition, Housing Works fights for funding and legislation to ensure

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that all people living with HIV have access to quality housing, health care and treatment. This year, Housing Works activists were arrested outside former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office while protesting proposed budget cuts to HIV funding.

IAVI iavi.org

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) is an innovative nonprofit scientific research organization focused on developing and delivering vaccines and antibodies for HIV, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. With more than 20 ongoing HIV vaccine clinical trials, IAVI has been at the forefront of groundbreaking vaccine research for more than 25 years. Leveraging international partnerships and programs, IAVI works to improve and accelerate access to biomedical innovations in low- and middle-income countries, where the HIV burden is often higher. IAVI has offices and laboratories across five countries and collaborates with a network of clinical research center partners on four continents. In 2022, IAVI launched the IAVI Vaccine Literacy Library, which provides user-friendly info on HIV and other vaccines.

INTERNATIONAL AIDS SOCIETY iasociety.org

Founded in 1988, the International AIDS Society (IAS) is the longtime organizer of the International AIDS Conference and the IAS Conference on HIV Science (held in alternating years), the HIV Research for Prevention (HIVR4P) meeting and other HIV- and AIDS-related events that convene tens of thousands of scientists, policymakers and activists from 170 countries. The 25th International AIDS Conference will take place in Munich, next July. Through the IAS Education Fund, the organization provides educational opportunities to HIV health and social services providers, researchers, policymakers and other key stakeholders. IAS also publishes the Journal of the International AIDS Society, which showcases evidence-based knowledge and state-of-the-art research.

IAS advocates for a global HIV response that “follows the science and puts people first.”

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PROVIDERS OF AIDS CARE iapac.org

For nearly four decades, the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC) has been working to expand access to and improve the quality of prevention, care

and treatment services for people living with, at risk for or impacted by HIV and AIDS by developing and disseminating guidelines and best practices for HIV care and treatment. IAPAC, which consists of more than 30,000 clinicians and health professionals, also offers education programs and convenes health care professionals around the globe. What’s more, it produces the Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, a bimonthly peer-reviewed clinical journal, and is the core technical partner of the Fast-Track Cities network. On July 21, IAPAC was one of four organizations to launch Zero HIV Stigma Day, a new awareness day focused on ending HIV stigma in all its forms.

LATINO COMMISSION ON AIDS latinoaids.org

Founded in 1990, the Latino Commission on AIDS spearheads health advocacy for Latinos, promotes HIV education, develops prevention programs for high-risk communities, provides capacity-building assistance to community organizations and conducts Latino-based health research. One of its many programs is Latinos in the South, a regional initiative launched to address the barriers to health care and prevention Southern Latinos face. In 2019, the program held its first annual Encuentro, a conference of LGBTQ Latinx Southern health advocates and their allies. In conjunction with the Hispanic Federation, the Latino Commission on AIDS unites the Latino community to raise awareness about HIV testing, prevention and education via National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day, held annually on October 15.

LATINOS SALUD latinossalud.org

Founded in 2008 to provide a safe space for Latino gay men and their partners to find friends, support and resources, Latinos Salud provides clientcentered health education and integrated preventive, screening and linkage services throughout South Florida to combat HIV and other STIs and improve health outcomes. The group has locations in Wilton Manors, North Miami, Miami Beach and Westchester as well as mobile outreach and testing capacity. It boasts a fully bilingual staff from several

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Spanish-speaking countries. Latinos Salud offers HIV and STI testing, a PrEP clinic, Ryan White case management for clients living with HIV, vaccinations, linkage to care, support groups and life coaching.

LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF NORTHEAST FLORIDA lssjax.org

Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida (LSSNEFL) focuses on one simple priority: helping others. In 1992, it established the AIDS Care and Education program to connect those living with HIV to the resources they need to thrive in the community. Today, LSSNEFL partners with CAN Community Health to provide more than 1,200 clients each year with access to vital services at a comprehensive care facility in the Southside Jacksonville area. In addition to a full-service medical clinic, the facility offers psychiatric services, financial management and housing assistance, peer-led and clinician-based support groups, a community food pantry and more. LSSNEFL strives to make the challenges its clients face a little easier to conquer by providing a range of quality services under one roof.

NASTAD nastad.org

Formerly known as the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, NASTAD represents public health officials who administer HIV and hepatitis programs. The nonprofit’s mission is “to advance the health and dignity of people [affected by] HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis and intersecting epidemics by strengthening governmental public health and leveraging community partnerships.” NASTAD teams conduct training, promote health and racial equity, influence policy, fund harm reduction programs and more all while centering the needs of key populations such as persons of transgender experience, persons who use drugs, persons aging with HIV, and gay, bisexual and other same-genderloving men—Black and Latino men in particular.

NATIONAL AIDS MEMORIAL aidsmemorial.org

The National AIDS Memorial originated in 1988 as the Grove, a tranquil site in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park dedicated to commemorating those lost to AIDS. In 1996, thanks to the efforts of Representative Nancy Pelosi (D–Calif.), President Bill Clinton signed legislation designating the site as the country’s only federally funded national AIDS memorial. In recent years, the National AIDS Memorial’s scope expanded

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to include stewardship of the AIDS Memorial Quilt with its nearly 50,000 panels. It also offers the Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship, the Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award and the AIDS storytelling project Surviving Voices, which collects personal interviews and mini-documentaries, many of which are viewable online.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR HIV, VIRAL HEPATITIS, STD, AND TB PREVENTION cdc.gov/nchhstp

Part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP) works toward a future free of HIV, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis alongside partners across public and private sectors as well as on local, federal and state levels. NCHHSTP provides resources, policy guidance, funding and support to both government and nongovernmental organizations.

NCHHSTP engages in public health surveillance, prevention research and promotion of school-based health and disease prevention among youth. It also develops programs aimed at preventing and controlling infectious diseases, such as its Equity Initiative.

NATIONAL COALITION OF STD DIRECTORS ncsddc.org

Based in Washington, DC, the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) represents health department STD (sexually transmitted disease, also known as STI) and HIV directors, their support staff and other community partners across the nation in order to strengthen and unify the public health response to STIs. One of its projects is the STD Clinic Initiative, which aims to increase the capacity of public and private STI clinics for vulnerable Americans. Through its Policy Academy, NCSD trains staff from state and local health departments on how to engage in policy work. NCSD is a founding member of Building Health Online Communities, which aims to improve HIV and STI prevention on dating sites and apps.

NCSD’s weekly policy update, “This Week in Congress,” rounds up the latest policy news from the federal government and from around the nation.

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NATIONAL HARM REDUCTION COALITION harmreduction.org

The National Harm Reduction Coalition (NHRC) is a nationwide advocacy organization for people who use drugs. Founded in 1993, the group focuses on overdose prevention, expanding access to clean syringes to all 50 states and training and capacity building for other harm reduction groups. The group aims to build a national harm reduction movement rooted in racial justice and sponsors an annual harm reduction conference. NHRC’s advocacy efforts, which help prevent HIV, can be seen on the federal, state and local levels. From responding to the rise of hepatitis C in Greater Appalachia to saving thousands of lives through a naloxone distribution program in San Francisco, NHRC “creates spaces for dialogue and action that help heal the harms caused by racialized drug policies.”

NATIONAL HIV/AIDS STRATEGY hiv.gov/federal-response

The National HIV/AIDS Strategy (2022–2025) is a four-year road map created to accelerate efforts to end the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2030. Originally launched in 2010 and most recently updated in 2021, the strategy sets specific targets, such as a 75% reduction of new HIV infections by 2025 and a 90% reduction by 2030. In addition to preventing new HIV infections, the strategy’s goals include improving the HIV-related health outcomes of people living with the virus and reducing HIV-related disparities and health inequities. It designates five priority populations as requiring the most focus and resources—men who have sex with men, Black women, transgender women, youth ages 13 to 24 and people who inject drugs.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES niaid.nih.gov

For more than 60 years, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has conducted and supported research to better understand and treat infectious, immunologic and allergic diseases. Decades of NIAID-funded

research has led to new therapies, vaccines and diagnostic tests for hundreds of infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, flu, COVID-19 and HIV. The study of HIV remains a priority for NIAID researchers, who continue to lead clinical trials in the hopes of one day developing a safe and effective HIV vaccine. NIAID supports 21 laboratories and offers clinical research training opportunities for pre- and postdoctoral physicians and scientists. This fall, Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH, became NIAID’s sixth director, replacing longtime director Anthony Fauci, MD. NATIONAL NATIVE HIV NETWORK nnhn.org

Launched in 2016, the National Native HIV Network (NNHN) is an Indigenousled initiative that amplifies and unites the voices of American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities in response to HIV. The NNHN helps the Indian Health Service and other agencies reach American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities with HIV, STI and hepatitis C testing as well as prevention, treatment and harm reduction strategies. The organization mobilizes communities affected by HIV through peer-to-peer and programmatic support, training and capacity-building assistance. The NNHN hosts bimonthly meetings, conducts webinars, promotes HIV awareness days (including National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day) and maintains a social media presence to keep the American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities up to date on the latest HIV news. The NNHN is currently collecting information to develop the National Native HIV Services Directory.

NEBRASKA AIDS PROJECT nap.org

Founded in 1984, the Nebraska AIDS Project (NAP) was created in response to the early AIDS crisis to support and educate Nebraska communities affected by HIV. The only community-based AIDS service organization in the state, NAP offers Nebraskans (plus residents in 11 counties in Southwest Iowa and two counties in Eastern Wyoming) various services, including HIV education and prevention, support groups, linkage to care and case management. In addition to providing HIV and STI testing, the organization’s education department also offers informational presentations tailored to specific audiences that span topics such as the history of HIV, current statistics and trends, common misconceptions and how to prevent and treat HIV.

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90-90-90 unaids.org/en/resources/909090

In 2014, UNAIDS announced the 90-90-90 initiative, an ambitious three-pronged treatment goal: By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV would know their HIV status, 90% of all people diagnosed with HIV would have received and sustained antiretroviral therapy and 90% of all people on antiretroviral therapy would have viral suppression. Although the global target was not met by 2020, remarkable progress has been made, and the 90-90-90 goal remains a part of the global strategy to end AIDS. NMAC nmac.org

The mission of NMAC is to “lead with race” in the fight against HIV and AIDS by normalizing discussions about race within the HIV movement, helping reduce the rate of new HIV diagnoses among people of color and retaining people of color living with HIV in care and treatment. Founded in 1987 as the National Minority AIDS Council, NMAC represents a nationwide coalition of 3,000 faith- and communitybased organizations as well as HIV service organizations focusing on communities of color. NMAC is the organizer of the annual U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA) and the Biomedical HIV Prevention Conference. NMAC’s HIV 50+ Strong & Healthy program helps participants living with HIV over age 50 become leaders and advocates for themselves and others. Through its weekly newsletters, monthly webinars and blog posts (which can be found on POZ.com), NMAC empowers HIV communities by sharing the latest news regarding the quest to end HIV. NORTH CAROLINA AIDS ACTION NETWORK ncaan.org

Incorporated in 2010, the North Carolina AIDS Action Network (NCAAN) formed in response to the state’s HIV Medication Assistance Program (formerly ADAP) waiting list—once the longest in the nation. The group succeeded in ending the waiting list, and today North Carolina’s HIV Medication Assistance Program is fully funded. Since 2010, more than 20,000 people have taken action alongside the

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organization, resulting in many legislative victories for North Carolinians living with HIV and AIDS. NCAAN also works to cultivate and mentor new advocacy leaders by hosting an annual advocacy day in the state legislature and an annual fall conference that offers workshops and community-building opportunities. By empowering community members through outreach and education, NCAAN is improving the lives of people living with and affected by HIV across the South.

NOVASALUD novasaludinc.org

NovaSalud works to improve and strengthen the health and wellbeing of residents living in Northern Virginia, DC and Maryland.

Through the Ryan White Program, the organization provides culturally competent and language-appropriate HIV care services to individuals living with HIV regardless of their ability to pay. NovaSalud also provides free and confidential HIV and STI testing and counseling, condoms and safer-sex kits as well as referrals to other supportive services. Via outreach at health fairs and other community events, NovaSalud educators and staff collaborate with other networks to best support the health needs of its community.

OFFICE OF AIDS RESEARCH oar.nih.gov

The Office of AIDS Research (OAR) coordinates HIV and AIDS research across the NIH, the largest public investor in HIV research globally.

Because the response to the HIV pandemic requires a multidisciplinary, multi-agency response, OAR collaborates with other federal agencies, clinicians, researchers and community partners to share updates and gather input to ensure that funding is directed to the highest-priority areas within the NIH. Authorized by Congress in 1988, OAR shares timely insights, guidance and updates with researchers and the public. This year’s annual meeting of OAR’s Advisory Council included discussions on HIV and women, the launch of the new NIH OAR Data Hub, updates on HIV clinical practice guidelines and more.

OLDER WOMEN EMBRACING LIFE owelinc.org

Since 2005, the network Older Women Embracing Life (OWEL) has prioritized the needs of senior women living with and impacted by HIV and AIDS. Based in Baltimore, OWEL meets on the first Wednesday of each month and

The POZ 100 Working Together to End HIV

offers mentoring and support to women in a safe, confidential and welcoming environment where they can learn from one another. OWEL members participate in health fairs, workshops, conferences and community events where they share their own life stories and lessons learned to boost HIV awareness and strengthen HIV prevention efforts. OWEL also conducts site recruitment for research efforts with major universities and institutions.

In October, the group held its 18th Annual Legends & Young’uns Conference, which featured interactive presentations and breakout sessions on topics including managing menopause, treating and managing HIV, and trauma and resilience.

PEPFAR state.gov/pepfar

Launched in 2003 by the George W. Bush administration, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is a government initiative that has saved an estimated 25 million lives, prevented millions of HIV infections and accelerated progress toward controlling the HIV pandemic in more than 50 countries. Through PEPFAR, the United States has invested more than $100 billion in the global HIV and AIDS response—the largest commitment in history by any nation to address a single disease. One of the most successful global health programs, it has enjoyed two decades of bipartisan congressional support. This year, however, its reauthorization is in jeopardy, as some Republican lawmakers allege that part of the program’s nearly $7 billion annual budget is used to fund abortions, a claim that program leaders and outside experts deny. The deadline to renew the program was in early October, yet at press time PEPFAR’s fate remains unclear.

POSITIVE IMPACT HEALTH CENTERS

health services, psychiatry, group therapy, peer support, housing assistance and case management. Founded in 1991 and primarily serving African-American and LGBTQ people, in 2022, the agency reported that 91% of its HIV-positive clients were virally suppressed—proof, indeed, of its positive impact.

POSITIVE PEOPLE NETWORK positivepeoplenetworkinc.org

Founded by Alecia M. Tramel, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2000, the mission of the Positive People Network is to help end HIV-related stigma and offer social activities to help improve the quality of life for people living with HIV. The group holds workshops and webinars on health disparities, supports people living with HIV around disclosing their status and provides advocacy training. The nonprofit also offers support services for youth, women, men who have sex with men, and trans people. The Miami-based organization works to empower, strengthen and uplift communities of people living with HIV by helping them build skills to improve communication and linking them to other HIVrelated organizations.

POSITIVE WOMEN’S NETWORK–USA pwn-usa.org

Founded in 2008 by a diverse group of women leaders living with HIV, Positive Women’s Network (PWN-USA) is a national membership organization of women living with HIV and their allies. The group inspires, informs and mobilizes women to advocate for change to improve their lives and uphold their rights. Its policy agenda is grounded in social justice and human rights and applies a gender lens to ending the epidemic. PWN-USA leads trainings on advocacy, and its website offers tool kits, resources and webinars on effective organizing and mobilization. In recent years, PWN-USA members have led successful HIV and sex-work decriminalization campaigns in California, Missouri, Nevada and Virginia and helped save access to ADAP in Texas.

positiveimpacthealthcenters.org With three locations serving clients in the greater Atlanta metro area, Positive Impact Health Centers offers primary medical care and HIV specialty services to about 6,500 HIV clients, including HIV and STI testing, treatment, PrEP (nearly 42,000 enrollees), PEP, pharmacies, gender-affirming care, women’s

POSITIVELY TRANS transgenderlawcenter.org/programs/positively-trans

Founded in 2015 as a response to the structural inequities that lead to high rates of HIV and poor health outcomes in the transgender community, Positively Trans (T+) is one of several programs at the Transgender Law Center, a national organization that advocates

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for and supports transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) people. A network led by trans women of color living with HIV, Positively Trans centers their voices in the HIV epidemic by advocating for policies, addressing inequalities, offering leadership development, preserving digital stories and presenting community-driven research, such as its wellness reports addressing the needs of TGNC people with HIV in various cities.

PrEP4ALL prep4all.org

PrEP4All aims to provide universal access to PrEP and HIV medications to help end the epidemic. The national organization is spearheading the fight for a National PrEP Program, which would cover PrEP costs for underinsured and uninsured individuals across the United States. Since its founding in 2018, PrEP4All has built a movement by promoting data-driven policy solutions and holding policymakers and pharmaceutical companies accountable. Thanks in part to its advocacy efforts, in 2023, the Biden administration requested $10 billion in funding for a PrEP for All to End the HIV Epidemic program. PrEP4All has also responded to other recent health crises, including COVID-19 and mpox.

PREVENTION ACCESS CAMPAIGN preventionaccess.org

Since 2016, the Prevention Access Campaign (PAC) has spearheaded the U=U (“Undetectable Equals Untransmittable”) campaign.

The goal of the U=U campaign is to spread the message that people on effective treatment with an undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV through sex. PAC’s U=U campaign has become one of the biggest global health movements in recent years and has helped to dispel the stigma around HIV and transform the lives of millions of people living with the virus. In 2022, PAC formed a second organization. While PAC focuses on global prevention efforts, the new organization, titled U=U plus, focuses on efforts in the United States.

PRISON HEALTH NEWS prisonhealth.news

Prison Health News (PHN) is an independent information network that uplifts the voices, experience and expertise of currently and formerly incarcerated people. Previously a project

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of Philadelphia Fight, PHN produces a quarterly newsletter that is read by 5,000 people who are imprisoned across the country. Content includes artwork and writing by people in prison and features articles and resources on topics such as HIV, hepatitis, self-care, nutrition, organizing and more.

By responding to requests for health information from people in prisons and jails in the United States, PHN aims to break down prison walls and achieve health and social justice for all.

THE REUNION PROJECT reunionproject.net

There are many ways to define a long-term survivor of HIV; The Reunion Project (TRP) includes them all. Founded in 2015, this grassroots network of long-term survivors collaborates with local and national advocates, providers and researchers and creates safe spaces for survivors of HIV to come together. The group convenes and connects individuals to share their experiences of survival and loss, to honor their past, to develop successful strategies for living with HIV and to support one another. Each year, TRP hosts several town halls (virtual and in-person) to honor the unique lives of long-term survivors.

These summits feature a mix of facilitated discussions, expert panels and presentations by key researchers, advocates and long-term survivors. The most recent TRP town hall was held in Charlotte, North Carolina.

RIBBON ribbon3.org

Ribbon Consulting Group, LLC is a fullservice consulting practice led, owned and operated by two women of color living with HIV. The business was formed to provide practical solutions for organizations serving people living with HIV and other chronic health conditions. Ribbon provides strategic planning, initiative-crafting, community mobilization, technical assistance and more to AIDS services organizations, health service providers and individuals. It also helps its clients develop and provide culturally responsive education and services. Its Ribbon Organizing Center for HIV and Aging program aims to improve the health and quality of life of people aging with HIV by developing and offering education, training and resources to 23 national, regional and local organizations as part of Gilead Sciences’ HIV Age Positively Initiative.

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RURAL AIDS ACTION NETWORK raan.org

The Rural AIDS Action Network (RAAN) formed 25 years ago to address the lack of services available to people living with HIV and AIDS outside Minnesota’s Twin Cities metro area. Today, the organization leads the fight to stop HIV in the state’s rural areas through a broad array of client services, including HIV and hepatitis C testing, medical case management, nutrition and transportation support, syringe exchanges and support groups. Spread over five locations, its staff serves clients in 80 counties. Ten years ago, RAAN began its syringe service program; in 2022, the program distributed 521,000 syringes and collected 347,000.

RAAN also offers free Narcan (naloxone) to reverse opioid overdoses.

RYAN WHITE HIV/AIDS PROGRAM ryanwhite.hrsa.gov

Named for the 1980s Indiana activist who died of AIDS-related complications as a teenager in 1990, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program is a federal program that helps low-income Americans living with HIV receive free medical care, medications (through ADAP) and essential support services, such as transportation, food and rental assistance. More than half of Americans diagnosed with HIV—about 500,000 people— receive Ryan White program services each year. The program also helps diagnose, treat, prevent and respond to the national HIV epidemic by providing grants to cities, states, counties and community-based groups to help provide care, medication and essential services; improve HIV-related health outcomes; and reduce HIV transmission.

SAN FRANCISCO AIDS FOUNDATION sfaf.org

Founded in 1982, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) currently provides direct services to more than 21,000 people in the San Francisco Bay Area. SFAF envisions a future in which health justice prevails for all people living with or at risk for HIV. The nonprofit offers sexual health counseling and test-

ing, PrEP and PEP, HIV support, substance use treatment, case management, syringe access, overdose prevention, housing, financial benefits and more. SFAF serves various communities, including people living with HIV, queer and trans people of color, trans and nonbinary people, people over age 50 and people who inject drugs. More than 90% of its clients ages 50 and older are engaged in medical care with viral suppression, and more than half of the people accessing PrEP for HIV prevention at SFAF are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color).

SERO PROJECT seroproject.com

POZ founder Sean Strub founded the Sero Project to end unjust criminal prosecutions of people living with HIV. Since its inception, the nonprofit has centered and empowered the voices of people living with HIV in its decriminalization efforts. The Sero Project raises awareness through community outreach, education and grassroots mobilization. It produces the biennial HIV Is Not a Crime conference, which trains advocates and provides them with the necessary tools to fight HIV crime laws in their states. Since 2012, the Sero Project has helped modernize and update laws in 14 states, including Iowa, Colorado, Georgia and Nevada. The Sero Project is also one of the founders of HIV Justice Worldwide, a global HIV criminalization resource and advocacy hub.

SISTERLOVE, INC. sisterlove.org

Founded in 1989, SisterLove, Inc. began as a volunteer group in Atlanta focused on raising awareness about HIV prevention and safer-sex practices, specifically for women of color. It has since expanded to become a prominent and influential advocacy organization for sexual and reproductive health rights. One of SisterLove’s main initiatives is the Healthy Love Experience, which offers empowerment groups for women, HIV prevention education, HIV testing and counseling, community outreach and assistance with case management.

Using community-based research, SisterLove works to better understand barriers to sexual and reproductive justice and identify sustainable solutions for achieving health equity. Each year, new members are inducted into SisterLove’s Leading Women’s Society, which consists of outstanding women who have lived with HIV for 20 years or more while serving as advocates in their communities.

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SOUTHERN AIDS COALITION southernaidscoalition.org

Founded in 2001, when HIV in the South was being largely ignored, the Southern AIDS Coalition was born when a handful of advocates demanded more resources to address the growing HIV epidemic in the region.

In 2006, the group scored a big win with the modification of the distribution formula in the reauthorization of the Ryan White program, which redirected about $30 million of funding to the South. In 2012, the coalition also played a role in attaining funding from Care and Prevention in the United States that was aimed at reducing HIV and AIDS deaths among U.S. racial minorities. As a Gilead COMPASS Coordinating Center, the group also provides grants, leadership development and trainings for care providers to combat HIV-related stigma.

SOUTHERN BLACK POLICY AND ADVOCACY NETWORK sbpan.org

The Southern Black Policy and Advocacy Network (SBPAN) increases the capacity of Black communities and leaders to make meaningful public health policy in the South. With its extensive relationships with groups across the region, the group leverages data, evidenceinformed solutions and cultural competency to provide training, education and advocacy and to mobilize. In 2018, SBPAN launched its first initiative, the Southern Black HIV/ AIDS Network, to train and mobilize a new generation of Black HIV leaders. It also created “Organizing to End Black HIV NOW,” a digital media campaign to educate and organize Black HIV advocacy groups. Last year, founder and CEO Venton Jones was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, making him the first Black gay state legislator openly living with HIV. SOUTHERN HIV IMPACT FUND southernfund.org

Created by Funders Concerned About AIDS in 2017 to coordinate and expand philanthropic efforts to end HIV in the South, the Southern HIV Impact Fund is managed by AIDS United and receives support from Gilead Sciences, ViiV Healthcare, the Levi Strauss Foundation and Janssen. The fund provides a combination of cash grants and technical assistance to community-based

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and social justice groups in nine Southern states. Its efforts aim to address the intersecting barriers that fuel the HIV epidemic in the South, including poverty, inadequate education, persistent HIV stigma, racism, homophobia and transphobia. In its first five years, the Southern HIV Impact Fund invested more than $12 million to support the work of nearly 200 organizations across the South serving the most vulnerable and marginalized communities.

THRIVE SS thrivess.org

The nonprofit Thrive SS provides support for Black same-genderloving men living with HIV in Atlanta. Since 2015, it has worked to accomplish its mission through direct-support advocacy and community involvement. Thrive SS links people to care, distributes condoms and provides at-home HIV tests. Its clients can also receive support services, such as housing, employment and technical assistance. Thrive SS holds various community events and runs several HIV-related programs, including The Silver Lining Project, a safe space where older Black men living with HIV can share, discuss and advocate for issues impacting them.

TO OUR SHORES toourshores.org

Founded in 2013, To Our Shores is a community-based organization providing primary and HIV medical care to residents living in metro Atlanta, especially in Gwinnett and the surrounding rural counties. It seeks to help eliminate health care disparities by providing culturally informed and individualized medical, social and preventive free and low-cost services as well as educational workshops. To Our Shores understands that certain barriers can prevent individuals from accessing care, so it offers translation services for patients for whom English is a second language and an on-demand car service to and from medical appointments.

TRANSGENDER LAW CENTER transgenderlawcenter.org

Founded in 2002, the Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest national trans-led organization in the United States.

TLC works to protect and advance the rights of transgender and gender-nonconforming people, who have a higher rate of HIV than the population as a whole. The TLC Legal Information Helpdesk provides basic information on laws and policies that affect transgender people, including laws

The POZ 100 Working Together to End HIV

concerning health care, housing, immigration and identity documents. TLC’s Attorney Solidarity Network provides legal advice or representation to trans people through a network of cooperating attorneys. Other programs include Positively Trans, which advocates for trans women of color living with HIV; Black Trans Circles, which uplifts Black trans women leaders in the South and Midwest; and Gender Justice Leadership Programs, which engages trans and gendernonconforming young people in storytelling.

TRANSLATIN@ COALITION translatinacoalition.org

In 2009, a group of transgender, gendernonconforming and intersex (TGI) immigrant women in Los Angeles came together to form the TransLatin@ Coalition to address the needs of TGI Latina immigrants in the United States. Today, it is the largest trans-led organization in Los Angeles providing direct services to the TGI community, and its board is made up of trans Latina leaders from across the country. Services include a drop-in center, legal services, transitional housing, leadership programs, workforce development programs and more. In 2017, it opened the Center for Violence Prevention and Transgender Wellness to raise awareness of the fact that TGI people experience hate and violence at alarming rates and to address the needs of TGI individuals who have been victims of violence. The group was recently awarded $750,000 by the California House of Representatives to support its workforce development efforts.

TREATMENT ACTION GROUP treatmentactiongroup.org

Treatment Action Group (TAG) was founded in 1992 by members and alums of ACT UP New York who wanted to focus full-time on speeding up AIDS research, advocating for increased funding and ensuring that people living with HIV had access to and information about potentially lifesaving treatments. In its early years, the group pushed to overhaul clinical trials to produce quicker and more reliable answers about new drugs. Group members liaised with government scientists, drug company researchers and Food and Drug Administration officials. In recent years, TAG has pursued advocacy to promote safe and effective diagnostics, prevention tools and cures to help end not just HIV but tuberculosis and hepatitis C with input from the communities most affected.

U=U PLUS uequalsuplus.org

Launched in 2022, U=U plus is a U.S.based organization born out of the Prevention Access Campaign’s “Undetectable = Untransmittable” (U=U) campaign, which shares the message that people on effective treatment with an undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV sexually. The mission of U=U plus is to implement an equitable HIV response through empowerment, engagement and education. The organization works to uplift people living with HIV while also promoting collaboration and community participation. In addition, U=U plus provides education, training, capacity building and technical assistance to U=U. While it’s understood that not everyone may be able to have an undetectable viral load, the message of U=U can enrich the lives of all people living with HIV by helping to reduce HIV-related stigma.

UNAIDS unaids.org

Founded in 1996, UNAIDS, an entity of the United Nations, leads the global effort to end the HIV epidemic by 2030. The group places people living with HIV at the center of designing, delivering and monitoring the AIDS response and helps chart paths for countries and communities to get on the fast track to ending AIDS. With offices in 70 countries, UNAIDS has the world’s most extensive data on HIV epidemiology, program coverage and finance and publishes the most authoritative and up-to-date information on the HIV epidemic. UNAIDS helps shape public policies on HIV and scale up the world’s response to the virus.

U.S. BUSINESS ACTION TO END HIV healthaction.org/endhiv

U.S. Business Action to End HIV is a growing coalition of businesses committed to ending HIV by 2030. Initiated by the drugmaker ViiV Healthcare, the coalition was founded in 2022 by Health Action Alliance, a partnership of business, communications and public health organizations. U.S. Business Action to End HIV offers free tools and resources and organizes events to help employers educate workers, fight stigma and improve access to HIV prevention and treatment services. It also encourages businesses to advocate for policies that promote better access to HIV services and strengthen public funding. Companies can also commit to supporting local communities most affected by HIV or to

poz.com DECEMBER 2023 POZ 45

The POZ 100 Working Together to End HIV

provide funding to help grow the coalition’s response and operations. Such companies as Walmart, Paramount Pictures and Uber have already joined the coalition and committed to doing their part to end HIV. U.S. PLHIV CAUCUS hivcaucus.org

Founded in 2010, the U.S. PLHIV Caucus is committed to achieving a world where all people living with HIV (PLHIV) have what they need to live and thrive. Its membership is made up of both individuals living with the virus as well as PLHIV-led groups and networks. The organization’s work is rooted in the Meaningful Involvement of People with HIV (MIPA), which means that those who are most affected are truly a part of discussions and decisions regarding the response to HIV. The caucus co-organizes the annual HIV advocacy event AIDSWatch and is a partner in the annual U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS. It advocates for the rights and dignity of PLHIV and provides leadership development and technical assistance to support PLHIV as well as organizations that embrace the principles of MIPA. VETERANS AFFAIRS hiv.va.gov

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the largest single provider of medical care to people with HIV in the United States. In 2019, there were over 31,000 veterans with HIV in care. The VA also leads the country in HIV screening, testing, treatment, research and prevention. The VA’s HIV efforts are coordinated by the HIV, Hepatitis, and Related Conditions Programs. It developed the HIV Prevention and Care Affinity Group Program to support facilities and groups focused on HIV testing, HIV care leading to viral suppression, increasing PrEP uptake, developing syringe service programs and improving STI screenings. The VA website features fact sheets on HIV-related topics for veterans (and the general public) along with links to additional resources.

THE VISION COMMUNITY FOUNDATION visioncommunityfoundation.org

The Vision Community Foundation offers programs and services as well as free HIV testing to underserved families and individuals in the Atlanta area. The nonprofit also provides HIV prevention training through its Prevention from the Pulpit Initiative, which works to harness

46 POZ DECEMBER 2023 poz.com

the influence of faith leaders to raise awareness about HIV and other health issues affecting the Black community. The initiative has trained more than 1,000 faith leaders on HIV prevention, treatment and care and holds eight regional summits each year. It has built a strong relationship with the Pride community and partners with the annual Pure Heat Community Festival to share messages of HIV prevention and empowerment.

VISUAL AIDS visualaids.org

Founded in 1988, Visual AIDS is the only contemporary arts organization dedicated to raising HIV awareness and fostering dialogue around timely issues relating to HIV through visual art projects (including the iconic red ribbon, created in 1991 by the Visual AIDS Artists’ Caucus), exhibitions, public forums and publications. The online Visual AIDS Artist Registry is the largest database of works by artists with HIV and AIDS and helps artists reach new audiences while also inspiring and educating the public. The organization also hosts art therapy workshops for women that use artmaking to reduce stigma, build community and empower women living with HIV. Among its new projects are the Visual AIDS Research Fellowship, which supports research on artists lost to AIDS, and The Body as an Archive, an oral history project that records conversations between artists living with HIV. THE WELL PROJECT thewellproject.org

Since it was founded in 2002, The Well Project has provided education, support and resources for women and girls across the gender spectrum living with and affected by HIV to help them survive and thrive with HIV. Most important, the organization teaches women how to advocate for their health and general well-being as well as how to live free of stigma. The Well Project leverages technology—via its web portal, social media and more—to improve the quality of life for women living with HIV. Its programming is divided into five categories: education and information, community support, advocacy and leadership, collaborative engagement and women-focused research. Its motto is: “Together, we can change the course of the HIV epidemic... one woman at a time.” Q Written by Alicia Green, Jennifer Morton, Tim Murphy, Laura Schmidt and Trent Straube

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HEROES

BY JAY LASSITER

Man on a Mission

48 POZ DECEMBER 2023 poz.com

Malcolm Gregg Scott is a longterm survivor and advocate.

JAY FRAM

After Malcolm Gregg Scott was discharged from the Navy in 1987 for being gay and subsequently diagnosed with HIV, advocacy became his mission.

Scott focused on not only ending the Pentagon’s ban on openly gay service members but also overturning sodomy laws that criminalized gay sex.

“Back then, over 30 states still had sodomy laws, and the mainstream LGBTQ organizations didn’t want to even talk about sodomy laws,” he explains.

Scott, who tested HIV positive during his separation physical from the Navy, spent the early 1990s taunting death while propelling some of the most consequential social changes in American history.

Scott was also present at the founding of Washington, DC’s chapter of AIDS activist group ACT UP. “It was queer women in DC who really organized ACT UP DC after the 1987 March on Washington,” Scott says. “They wanted a group that was about AIDS and queer liberation. They don’t get credit for it.”

As the AIDS crisis raged, Scott also became a pivotal voice in the movement to reform America’s racist marijuana laws. Back then, cannabis activism was unpopular, including in DC’s LGBTQ community.

“ACT UP DC could routinely organize 200 people for a demonstration,” he says, recalling the time the group shut down the mayor’s office over a hiring freeze that hobbled the city’s Office of AIDS Activities.

“But for a marijuana demo, we worked hard to organize maybe 20 people. It was a really tough sell.”

These days, Scott is working on a documentary about the so-called Lazarus Generation of AIDS survivors who rose from their sick beds to live long healthy lives after effective treatment became available in the mid-1990s.

He’s also busy winterizing his 2,400-square-foot backyard garden after a brutal summer in Portland, Oregon, where he now lives, and he plans to add solar panels and a chicken coop next spring.

Scott didn’t plant any marijuana this year, however, thanks to last year’s bumper crop. That some form of cannabis is legal for most Americans is a tribute to the activism of folks like him.

But pot isn’t the only thing growing in Scott’s garden. “I planted an apple orchard four years ago, and it’s the first year we had apples,” he says.

For Scott, who calls gardening a “lifesaving” pastime, there was a time when planning five years ahead was unthinkable.

“In 1993, I was diagnosed with Stage IV AIDS: zero T cells, KS lesions, wasting syndrome—the full scourge—and I was angry, so angry that the anger alone might’ve killed me if l hadn’t found ACT UP.” But that all changed in 1995, when he won a compassionate access lottery and became one of the first people to receive a protease inhibitor, which stabilized his health starting in January 1996.

In his garden, Scott, now 61, often reflects on his unlikely longevity. “When I’m feeling old and creaky and in pain or tired, I just remind myself that not everybody gets to do this.” Q

SURVEY

10

Do you believe HIV-related criminalization laws negatively impact public health outcomes?

T Yes 11

Do you believe HIV-related criminalization laws contribute to stigma and discrimination?

T Yes

HIV AND THE LAW

12

1

Does your state have any laws or policies that are used to prosecute people living with HIV?

T Yes 2

3

T Yes 4

5

ISTOCK

16

T Straight T Bisexual T Gay/lesbian T Other 17

T No

T No

What is your ethnicity? (Check all that apply.)

T American Indian or Alaska Native T Arab or Middle Eastern T Asian T Black or African American T Hispanic or Latino T Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander T White T Other (Please specify.): ___________________

T No

T No T I don’t know.

What is your sexual orientation?

18

What is your current level of education?

T Some high school T Some college T High school graduate T Bachelor’s degree or higher 19

What is your annual household income?

T Less than $15,000 T $15,000–$34,999 T $35,000–$49,999

T $50,000–$74,999 T $75,000–$99,999 T $100,000 or more

20 What is your ZIP code? __ __ __ __ __

Are there legal organizations or resources available to assist people living with HIV in your area?

T Yes 9

T Male T Female T Transgender T Other

T No

Have you witnessed or heard of instances where someone living with HIV faced discrimination due to their status?

T Yes 8

What is your gender?

Have you personally experienced discrimination or stigma related to your HIV status?

T Yes 7

15

If you were arrested on an HIV-related charge, do you believe you would be given a fair trial?

T Yes 6

What year were you born?__ __ __ __

Do you worry that you could be arrested on an HIV-related charge?

T Yes

T No

14

T No

Do you know anyone who has been arrested on an HIV-related charge?

T No T I don’t know.

Have you been involved in advocacy related to HIV policy and legal issues?

T Yes

T No T I don’t know.

Has a sexual partner ever filed or threatened to file a police report against you based on your HIV status?

T Yes

13

T No T I don’t know.

Do you believe HIV-related criminalization laws discourage people from getting tested for HIV?

T Yes Many states have outdated HIV-specific laws and policies that unfairly punish people living with HIV because of their positive status. Thankfully, advocates across the country are working to reform these laws. POZ wants to know your thoughts about issues related to HIV criminalization.

T No T I don’t know.

T No T I don’t know.

Have you ever sought legal assistance related to your HIV status?

T Yes

T No

Scan this QR code with your smartphone to take this survey at poz.com/survey. Or email a photo of your completed survey to website@poz.com.

Join us and put people first in the HIV response!

AIDS 2024, the 25th International AIDS Conference, will take place in Munich, Germany, and virtually from 22 to 26 July 2024.

Join the world’s largest conference on HIV and AIDS.

Register now at aids2024.org

PZA549119.

10.18.2023 09:5

A