Author: admin

The 74^th Presidential Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS (PACHA Council) will be taking place in Los Angeles, CA on Monday, September 19, 2022 and September 20, 2022. The meeting will be hybrid for those who wish to participate virtually. It is open to the public and everyone.

See more details below regarding times and registration information:

• When: Monday, September 19, 2022 from 4:00 – 10:00 pm (ET)/1:00 pm – 7:00 pm (PT) and September 20, 2022 from a 3:30 – 8:00 pm (ET)/12:30 pm – 5:00 pm (PT).
• Where: Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Building, 1670 E. 120th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90059. (The closest metro stop is the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station.) To attend the meeting virtually, please visit www.hhs.gov/live on date and time of event.
• “PACHA-to-the-People”: PACHA wants to hear from you! There will be a Listening Session with audience attendees on September 19. This is an opportunity for our PACHA members and leaders to hear from the community. Please encourage the community to attend.
• Registration: Due to limited seating, pre-registration for individuals attending in-person is encouraged. To register, please email your name to PACHA@hhs.gov by close of business Friday, September 9, 2022.
• Public Comment: Pre-registration is required to provide public comment. To pre-register, please send an email to PACHA@hhs.gov and include your name, organization, and title by close of business Friday, September 9, 2022.
• Agenda forthcoming: The meeting agenda will be posted on the PACHA page on HIV.gov prior to the meeting. The agenda will also be sent out once it is finalized. On the second day, community partners will be invited to participate on a panel to discuss the needs of the community.

For more information, please see the Federal Register Notice: View the Notice here.

Cross-posted from hivinfo.nih.gov

The HHS Panel on the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in HIV-Exposed and HIV-Infected Children (the Panel) updated the following section of the Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in HIV-Exposed and HIV-Infected Children. Highlights from the updated section are summarized below:

Monkeypox

• The Panel added a brief statement about monkeypox with links to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Information about monkeypox as an HIV-related opportunistic infection in children with HIV will be added to this guideline as relevant data emerge.

For a list of recent updates, please see What’s New in the Guidelines. To view or download the guidelines, go to the Pediatric Opportunistic Infections Guidelines section of Clinical Info’s website. The guidelines tables and recommendations also can be downloaded as separate PDF files.

Clinical Info welcomes your feedback on the latest revisions to the Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in HIV-Exposed and HIV-Infected Children. Please send your comments with the subject line “Pediatric Opportunistic Infection Guidelines” to HIVinfo@NIH.gov by September 23, 2022.

The HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) has released the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) Annual Client-Level Data Report, 2020.

This publication reflects HRSA HAB’s ongoing commitment to ensuring the availability of program information. The report is the fourth publication of national ADAP client-level data submitted through the ADAP Data Report (ADR) system. ADR data describe the demographic characteristics of clients accessing ADAP services and the ADAP-funded services used.  Data are included for 2016 through 2020, nationally and by state/territory.

The publication provides a deeper look at service utilization, demographic, and socioeconomic factors among clients served by ADAP. The report includes client-level data based on age, race/ethnicity, federal poverty level, and health care coverage.

Access this report and other tools

Cross-posted from HIV.gov

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced today that he will declare the ongoing spread of monkeypox virus in the United States a Public Health Emergency (PHE). This action will further strengthen and accelerate the Biden-Harris Administration’s response in recognition of the continued rapid transmission of monkeypox in the U.S. and globally, and to signal the seriousness and urgency with which the Administration is responding. The announcement comes on the heels of President Biden appointing Robert Fenton of the Federal Emergency Management Agency as White House National Monkeypox Response Coordinator and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator.

“Ending the monkeypox outbreak is a critical priority for the Biden-Harris Administration. We are taking our response to the next level by declaring a public health emergency,” said Secretary Becerra. “With today’s declaration we can further strengthen and accelerate our response further.”

“President Biden has called on us to explore every option on the table to combat the monkeypox outbreak and protect communities at risk,” said White House National Monkeypox Response Coordinator Robert Fenton. “We are applying lessons learned from the battles we’ve fought – from COVID response to wildfires to measles, and will tackle this outbreak with the urgency this moment demands.”

The PHE declaration is in concert with the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) work to explore new strategies that could help get vaccines to affected communities across the country, including using new dose-sparing approach that could increase the number of doses available, up to five-fold.

The public health emergency also carries important implications for data sharing with the federal government. Fifty-one jurisdictions have already signed data use agreements that will provide the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with information related to vaccine administration. Declaring the outbreak an emergency may provide the justification that the remaining jurisdictions need to sign their agreements. Additionally, it provides authorities to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to collect testing and hospitalization data.

As of today, HHS has shipped more than 602,000 doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine to states and jurisdictions, an increase of 266,000 in the past week. HHS has allocated 1.1 million doses to states and jurisdictions in total and is making more doses available as jurisdictions use their current supply. HHS also announced today that it has accelerated the delivery of an additional 150,000 doses to arrive in the U.S. next month. The doses, which were slated to arrive in November will now arrive in the U.S. in September.

Today’s announcements are part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive strategy to combat the monkeypox outbreak.  The strategy includes significantly scaling the production and availability of vaccines, expanding testing capacity and making testing more convenient, reducing burdens in accessing treatments, and conducting robust outreach to stakeholders and members of the LGBTQI+ communities.

Learn more

New Pacific Southwest ATTC and Mountain Plains ATTC Product!

Sample Policies for the Delivery of SUD-related Services via Audio-Only Telehealth

The Pacific Southwest and Mountain Plains Addiction Technology Transfer Centers created a new product to assist behavioral health providers and peer support specialists that provide services to People with Substance Use Disorders (PWSUDs) using the telephone (mobile, landline, or internet phones). This document provides sample policies and recommended practices that behavioral health providers and peer support specialists can use and/or adapt to help guide the delivery of Audio-Only Telehealth (AOTs). Many behavioral health treatment and peer support experts predict that patients/clients/peers will receive services in a hybrid delivery mode (in-person, videoconferencing, and telephone) in the near future. As such, behavioral health providers and peer support specialists will need to expand their skills and competencies while agencies and/or organizations will need policies and practices in place to guide service delivery utilizing AOTs. This product can be used as a starting point to assist in the implementation of AOTs or to enhance current AOTs. Additional products, infographics with tips, and training events regarding AOTs will be coming soon.

View the 508-compliant product

Questions?
Please contact Beth Rutkowski at brutkowski@mednet.ucla.edu