Here’s your chance to get insider viewpoints on the federal “Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America” initiative. In a series of free Zoom conversations this week, leaders in the national fight against HIV will discuss aspects of the plan with Harold Phillips, the senior HIV adviser and chief operating officer of “Ending the HIV Epidemic.”

As the senior HIV adviser and COO of the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, he works in the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) and helps oversee and coordinate the initiative’s activities across the divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The discussions are part of the 2020 National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care & Treatment, held August 11 to 14 and taking place virtually this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program is a federal effort to provide HIV care and supportive services to low-income and underinsured Americans. Since 1990, it has provided grants to state and community-based HIV groups.)

President Trump launched “Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America” last year. The initiative aims to lower new HIV cases nationwide by 50% in five years and 90% in 10 years, mostly by directing resources to the 48 counties—plus San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC—that account for half of new HIV cases. The plan also focuses efforts on seven rural states with high HIV burdens. Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced $109 million in funding to state and local health departments as part of the initiative.

The Zoom conversations with Phillips are scheduled as follows:

  • Tuesday, August 11: 6 p.m. ET, “Ending the HIV Epidemic” with Laura Cheever, MD, ScM, associate administrator, of the HIV/AIDS Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

  • Wednesday, August 12: 4:30 p.m ET, “Implementing EHE: A Community Perspective” with Gabriel Maldonado, CEO and founder, TruEvolution, Riverside, Calif.

  • Wednesday, August 12: 6 p.m. ET, “Innovating Care and Optimizing Public Health” with Heather Hauck, MSW, deputy associate administrator, HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau

  • Thursday, August 13: 6 p.m. ET, “30 Years of HIV Care and Treatment” with Cheever and Hauck

Before joining OIDP last fall, Phillips was the director of the Office of HIV/AIDS Training and Capacity Development, which oversees the Ryan White Program’s AIDS Education and Training Centers. He also served as the deputy director of the Ryan White Part B and AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP).

For more about the Zoom conversations, click here.

In related POZ news, see “How the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Keeps People Engaged in Care” and “Plans to End the HIV Epidemic at Home and Abroad: An Overview of Strategies and Successes.”