We want to draw your attention to an important deadline for the upcoming International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012). The deadline for submitting abstracts for the conference is Wednesday, February 15. We encourage authors to visit the conference website to review submission guidelines .

For U.S. authors, please note: the strict midnight deadline applies to Central European Time (CET), or 6:00 PM (ET). After that time, the online submission system will close and no further submissions will be accepted by the conference secretariat.

All submissions must be made online through an individual’s conference profile. If you have never attended the International AIDS Conference before, you will need to create a profile . If you have been a delegate to a previous conference, you can sign into your existing profile.

Wednesday, February 15, is also the deadline for submissions related to other activities at the conference. For more information, visit www.aids2012.org .

Miguel Gomez is the Director of AIDS.gov and Senior Communications Advisor to the  Office of HIV/AIDS Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Kelley Lennon is the AIDS 2012 Program Liaison at the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, U.S. Department of State.

The HHS Office of Global Affairs will host an educational forum for Federal staff with Dr. Elly Katabira, President of the International AIDS Society  (IAS) and International Chair of the XIX International AIDS Conference  (AIDS 2012), on Friday, February 10, from 1:00–2:00 p.m. Dr. Katabira will discuss the historic nature of AIDS 2012 during the forum, “AIDS 2012 and Beyond.”

The biennial conference, which is convened by the IAS in partnership with international and local (U.S.) organizations, including the U.S. government, will take place in Washington, DC, from July 22-27, 2012. The forum will be live-streamed to the public at: http://videocast.nih.gov/live.asp?live=10999.

To stay up-to-date on U.S. Government conference activities, please visit the USG @ AIDS 2012 webpage.

Christopher Bates

The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) will convene February 28 and 29 in Washington, DC. Among the many items on the agenda for the 45th meeting of the PACHA, two are of particular note:

• A conversation with Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius on a variety of issues, including the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy across HHS.
• PACHA will devote much of the first day of this meeting to an examination of the state of HIV/AIDS among women and girls in the U.S. and the nation’s response. A number of speakers have been invited to address PACHA on issues including HIV/AIDS research, prevention, and access to care and treatment.

Other items on the agenda for the two-day meeting include HOPWA modernization, implications of health care reform on mental health and substance abuse services for people at risk for or living with HIV, and follow-up to discussions at the prior PACHA meeting on HIV and youth.

The meeting will be held at the White House and will be the first to be led by the newly appointed chairperson, Nancy Mahon. Ms. Mahon is Senior Vice President of M·A·C Cosmetics and Executive Director of the M·A·C AIDS Fund .

For more information, follow PACHA’s activities via its website.

Last month, we attended the 9th Annual National African American MSM Leadership Conference on HIV/AIDS and other Health Disparities (AAMSM) in New Orleans, LA,  to encourage the use of new media in HIV/AIDS programs. Over 350 federal, state, and local health officials, community based organizations (CBOs), HIV/AIDS service providers, and community leaders gathered to share and learn from their peers’ experiences in facing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the African American MSM (men who have sex with men) community.

We spoke with Kalyani Sanchez, On-site Supervisor at the David Geffen Testing Center at Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC ) of New York City about a social networking outreach program it has piloted called the Leaders in Networking and Knowledge (L.I.N.K.) Project. The program uses social applications such as Facebook, instant messaging, Facetime, Skype, and more to promote and encourage HIV testing. The L.I.N.K. project also provides clients with the resources they need to extend the reach of HIV information to their social networks.

“It’s community taking care of community, getting individuals to get their friends, family, sexual partners, drug-using partners tested, and identifying those individuals that are newly diagnosed and linking them to care,” said Sanchez.

Not only is the project using social networks to deliver the message of getting tested, but it is  using mobile testing sites to remove some of the barriers to HIV testing. “We know that there’s a stigma surrounding testing centers,” said Sanchez, “so what we do is bring testing to them in places like parties or even video game challenges…It’s just making testing part of the norm.”

During the pilot of the program, they tested over 900 young MSM — many of whom did not know their status beforehand. To learn more about the L.I.N.K. project view our interview with Mr. Sanchez below.

Valerie Jarrett , Senior Advisor to the President

On this, the 12^th annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, I remember my sister-in-law’s fight with the disease. Tragically, she did not win that fight – she left behind a devastated husband and five-year old daughter. But it is in her memory, and the memory of all the friends and loved ones we have lost, that we vow to keep working toward the day when HIV/AIDS is history.

This past December, on World AIDS Day, President Obama spoke about the United States’ commitment to ending HIV/AIDS. In a speech at George Washington University, he told the audience, “Make no mistake, we are going to win this fight.  But the fight is not over … not by a long shot.”

Sadly, this is especially true in the African-American community. Black Americans represent 12 percent of the U.S. population, but they account for 44 percent of new HIV infections. Among young black gay men alone, infections have increased by nearly 50 percent in just three years, and black women account for the largest share of HIV infections among women. We each must do our part by getting tested regularly, and by educating those in our community about what they can do to help end the epidemic.

President Obama is committed to doing his part as well. In 2010, he released the nation’s first comprehensive HIV/AIDS plan. Together with Secretary Clinton, he has helped assemble a coalition of governments, healthcare professionals, and service providers. They have set a goal that would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago: an AIDS-free generation, in which virtually all children are born HIV-free, and prevention tools help them stay HIV-free throughout their lives.

We will not achieve this goal overnight. But we know that we must keep making progress, each and every day. For our communities and our families, the stakes are simply too high for us to be satisfied with anything less.

So today, we do more than commemorate those we have lost. We rededicate ourselves to the work ahead. Because even when it comes to an epidemic as devastating as HIV/AIDS, we have the chance to write our own destiny. As President Obama  said in December, “We can end this pandemic.  We can beat this disease.  We can win this fight.”

For more information about National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and this Administration’s efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in the Black community, visit www.AIDS.gov.

February 7, 2012 marks the 12th year for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD), a national community mobilization initiative that focuses on promoting HIV education, testing, involvement, and treatment to African Americans, who are disproportionately at risk for HIV/AIDS. As part of the Federal observance of NBHAAD, I spoke with three people who are helping to lead the response to HIV/AIDS in the African American community. They included:

• Dr. Kevin Fenton, Director, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention , at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Dr. Deborah Parham Hopson, Associate Administrator, HIV/AIDS Bureau, at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
• Mr. Ronald Johnson, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, AIDS United.

Each of the interviewees had an opportunity to discuss how NBHAAD can make communities more effective in responding to HIV/AIDS.

I also sat down with Reverend Edwin Sanders, Senior Servant at the Metropolitan Interdenominational Church in Nashville, Tennessee to talk about the role of faith-based organizations in facing the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Reverend Sanders spoke about the importance of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy in the faith community and gave examples of how the faith community is using the NHAS.

Dr. Kevin Fenton

(This message is also available on video.)

On this National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we have greater opportunity than ever before to reverse the HIV epidemic in Black America and the nation as a whole.

Today, we have a National HIV/AIDS Strategy that directs the nation to focus its prevention efforts on communities at greatest risk, including African-Americans – the racial group most severely impacted by HIV.  We have an African-American community that is mobilized like never before, with many of the nation’s longstanding black national organizations making HIV prevention a key priority.

Over the past several years, we have also witnessed tremendous breakthroughs in HIV prevention that can help alter the course of the epidemic. Rates of HIV testing are growing and are at an all-time high. Yet research now shows that early treatment not only provides improved health and much longer lives for people living with HIV, but it also can reduce their risk of passing the virus to partners by 96 percent. And new prevention tools – like a daily pill – have been shown to significantly reduce the risk of HIV infection in some high-risk populations, when combined with other prevention measures.

Now despite these important advances, the fight against this disease is far from over. The harsh reality is that today, even in the face of great hope and promise, African-American communities continue to be devastated by HIV.  Although only 14 percent of the U.S. population, African-Americans account for almost half of those living and dying with HIV/ AIDS in this country.

And HIV touches every corner of the black community and the impact of HIV has been especially devastating among black youth.   Approximately 40 percent of new infections among blacks are now occurring among those aged 13 and 29 years. Young black gay and bisexual men are the most severely affected, experiencing a nearly 50 percent increase in new HIV infections over the past few years. In addition, HIV is now the third leading cause of death among black women in the prime of their lives – those aged 35 to 44 years.

Now to turn the tide on this epidemic, we must confront the complex social and environmental conditions that help fuel the HIV epidemic in African-American communities. Lack of access to health care plays an important role.  We know that those who don’t have the means to see a doctor may not get an HIV test or HIV treatment until it’s far too late. We also know that nearly one in five African-Americans are without health insurance.

Where you live and where you choose your sexual partners also has a significant impact on your HIV risk. Higher rates of HIV that exist in black communities and the fact that African-Americans tend to select partners who are of the same race increases the likelihood of being exposed to HIV infection with each sexual encounter.

Homophobia and stigma – far too prevalent in many communities – prevents too many in the black community from getting tested, and if HIV positive, from getting treated.

HIV prevention in black communities remains one of our top public health priorities.  Last year, for example, CDC invested more than half of its HIV prevention budget to fight HIV among African-Americans. We’ve expanded initiatives to reach more African-Americans with HIV testing and increased the number and reach of HIV prevention programs in black communities.  We are working with our partners, like those in the Act Against AIDS Leadership Initiative, to launch campaigns and undertake activities aimed at increasing HIV testing and awareness among black women and black gay and bisexual men, among other groups.

Yet together we have much more work to do.  Today, I call on the faith community, the public health and community leaders, teachers, parents and business leaders – both within and outside black communities – to maximize the powerful tools we now have at our fingertips and to work together to bring this epidemic to an end.

I also urge each of you to do your part. Get tested for HIV.  If you are sexually active, use condoms consistently and correctly to protect yourself and your partners. If you are a person living with HIV, get and stay in treatment and take the necessary steps to prevent HIV transmission to your partners. You can learn more at www.actagainstaids.org . We can end this crisis. And we must remember that HIV is completely preventable. By working together, we can put an end to this epidemic in our lifetimes.

For more information, visit AIDS.gov

Over the past year and a half, many of you followed the AIDS.gov blog post series Future Directions for NIAID HIV Research by Dr. Carl Dieffenbach, Director of the Division of AIDS, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at NIH. Last week, NIAID advanced those efforts by issuing several requests for applications (RFAs) to establish leadership groups for clinical research networks focused on distinct areas of HIV/AIDS research.

NIAID is looking to expand upon the success of its six current HIV/AIDS clinical trials networks to create an infrastructure capable of performing both HIV/AIDS research and research involving non-HIV/AIDS infectious diseases.

The leadership groups to be funded will have overall responsibility for developing, implementing and adapting clinical research agendas to address NIAID’s HIV/AIDS scientific priorities in the following areas:
•    Therapeutics for HIV/AIDS and HIV-associated infections in adults
•    HIV/AIDS and HIV-associated infections in pediatric and maternal populations
•    Integrated strategies to prevent HIV infection
•    Vaccines to prevent HIV infection
•    Microbicides to prevent HIV infection

The new RFAs are part of NIAID’s larger effort to revamp its existing HIV/AIDS clinical trials networks. Applications for each of the five RFAs are due Sept. 28, 2012. Awards are expected to be made in 2013. Read full details at NIAID.

Next: Funding Announcements for Clinical Trials Units and TA for Applicants
In connection with its larger clinical trials network restructuring effort, NIAID plans to publish this spring a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) designed to solicit applications for the Clinical Trials Units (CTUs) that will populate the revamped clinical research networks. To assist potential CTUs applicants, NIAID will host three workshops focused on the grant application and review process. The first of these workshops will be held July 28-29, 2012, in Washington, D.C. The two remaining workshops, which will be held later in 2012, will be conducted in South America and Africa. Stay tuned to the NIAID clinical trial restructuring Web site for registration and additional information about these upcoming workshops.

Last week, I was proud to participate in a significant moment in the global AIDS response. I stood with leaders of the private sector at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as they committed to join forces to reach an ambitious, yet achievable, goal — ending pediatric AIDS by 2015.

The launch of two groundbreaking initiatives — the Business Leadership Council and the Social Media Syndicate — will marshal the power of the private sector, converging business acumen, technology, and other assets to support country-led efforts to prevent new infant infections and save mothers’ lives.

This exceptional commitment by the private sector stems from the Global Plan towards the Elimination of New Pediatric Infections and Keeping Mothers Alive, launched last year by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and UNAIDS. The Plan’s central goal is to reduce the number of new pediatric infections by 90 percent by 2015 in the 22 countries carrying 90 percent of the global burden of vertical transmission. The science is clear — achieving a generation born HIV-free is possible. It is a smart investment that will save lives and pay dividends in many of the world’s emerging economies.

I am proud to note that in 2011 alone, PEPFAR tested nearly 10 million pregnant women. Of these, more than 660,000 pregnant women were found to be living with HIV, and antiretrovirals (ARVs) for these women allowed more than 200,000 infants to be born HIV-free. These are the highest results of any year in PEPFAR’s eight-year history.

Everyone has a role to play. By working together with the private sector, we will enhance our collective impact. Leaders in business and the media have unique core competencies that only they can bring to this effort. I commend these business and media leaders for their commitment and partnership. I also encourage other companies to join this effort, and hope that other sectors will similarly pledge to do more, and do it smarter.

As we have learned from 30 years of struggle, extraordinary things happen when we work together. By uniting around our common humanity and our shared responsibility, we can change, not just the course of the epidemic, but the course of history for families and communities around the world.

Ambassador Eric Goosby serves as the United States Global AIDS Coordinator, leading all U.S. Government international HIV/AIDS efforts. In this role, Ambassador Goosby oversees implementation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), as well as U.S. Government engagement with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

For more information on PEPFAR, visit: www.pepfar.gov. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PEPFAR and Twitter at www.twitter.com/PEPFAR .

Dr. Ronald Valdiserri

With an estimated 20 percent of people living with HIV in the United States unaware of their status, strengthening our HIV testing efforts will be key to achieving the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). Fortunately, many innovative HIV testing efforts are underway in communities across the country.

HIV testing is integral to HIV prevention, treatment, and care. Knowledge of one’s HIV status is important for preventing the spread of disease. Studies show that individuals who learn they are infected with HIV take active steps to reduce the likelihood of transmitting the virus to their partners. Early diagnosis of HIV helps to ensure that people living with the virus are linked into care and receive life-saving treatment. And recently we’ve learned that antiretroviral treatment can also help to prevent the further spread of HIV. Therefore, the NHAS aims to increase, by 2015, from 79 percent to 90 percent the percentage of people living with HIV who know their serostatus (from 948,000 to 1,080,000 people).

From Maine to California, health departments, community-based organizations, substance abuse and mental health programs, health care providers, hospitals, and others are implementing novel and effective approaches to HIV testing to help contribute to this important outcome. Examples we’ve heard about recently include:

• HIV Screening Offered at the Department of Motor Vehicles – An innovative example of the Strategy’s call for greater collaboration among government service providers is underway in Washington, DC, where HIV testing has been offered at the Department of Motor Vehicles for the past year. While waiting to get a driver’s license, temporary tags or other services, motorists visiting the Department of Motor Vehicles service center in the nation’s capital can get a free HIV test. This innovative collaboration between the DMV and the DC Department of Health (DOH) has tested more than 5,000 people since the program started in a single location in October 2010. According to Family and Medical Counseling Service Inc., the non-profit group that runs the program under a grant from DOH, between 25 and 35 people get tested every day, and anyone who is tested gets $7 off his or her DMV services. If someone tests positive, the nonprofit offers a ride to its office where staff can set up counseling and a doctor’s appointment. Building on the success of the DMV effort, officials expanded the program in late 2011 to offer testing at an office where Washington residents register for food stamps, Medicaid, and other government assistance. The same nonprofit will run the program there, offering as an incentive a $5 gift card to a local grocery store.

• Testing at Community Activities – In Pine Ridge, South Dakota, the Oglala Sioux  tribe partnered with its local Indian Health Service facility to increase the availability of HIV screening in nonclinical, community-based settings. An experienced and well-regarded public health nurse has taken HIV testing to events and venues where there may not normally be a health-related activity. Over the past year, this locally initiated program has offered confidential HIV testing at community potlucks, rodeos, basketball games and Pow Wows.  Bringing HIV testing to nonclinical settings has allowed them to reach community members who may not be in regular health care, including young people, and provide them with HIV education and the opportunity for confidential HIV testing.

• Promoting the HIV-STD Link and Encouraging Screening – Responding to a recent special surveillance report indicating a 23% increase in the number of primary and secondary syphilis cases in Chicago and a documented high rate of HIV-syphilis co-infection especially among MSM, the Chicago Department of Public Health  recently launched the “Get Tested Chicago ” campaign to encourage individuals to get tested for HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI), including syphilis and, if diagnosed, to get into care. The public awareness campaign includes targeted billboards, radio public service announcements (PSAs), and bus advertisements aimed at early detection, testing and awareness.  The campaign makes the link between syphilis, as well as other sexually transmitted infections, and HIV. It notes that studies have repeatedly demonstrated that people are more likely to become infected with HIV when other STDs are present.  Moreover, it informs Chicagoans that if a person is HIV-positive, or if the immune system is weakened for any reason, syphilis (and other STIs) may progress faster and do more damage to the body.

• “Would you or wouldn’t you take an HIV test?” – In San Diego, the “Lead the Way ” campaign reflects the Strategy’s call to intensify HIV prevention efforts in communities where HIV is most heavily concentrated. The campaign aims to have all adults in the city’s 92103 and 92104 ZIP codes answer the question, “Would you or wouldn’t you take an HIV test?”  Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), designed and are implementing “Lead the Way,” with support from the National Institutes of Health. “UCSD researchers want to show that we can reduce the spread of HIV now, even without a vaccine. HIV testing is easy, confidential and is the simplest way to help our local community fight the spread of HIV/AIDS,” observed Susan Little, MD, professor of medicine in UCSD’s Division of Infectious Diseases and lead researcher of  “Lead the Way.” The campaign operates a drop-in testing center and sets up mobile testing sites at a variety of community events and venues. In addition, trained HIV testers from UCSD’s Antiviral Research Center are visiting residential locations in randomly selected areas throughout the two ZIP codes to offer free rapid HIV tests that will provide results in minutes. Those that do not wish to participate in the finger-prick test will have the option of completing a brief survey. “Volunteering to take the quick finger-prick test or filling out the survey will help us understand why people will or will not take an HIV test.  If we can understand the psychology, we can create more effective campaigns to promote testing. The ultimate goal is that everyone gets tested and those who need treatment receive it, so we can significantly curb the spread of HIV,” Dr. Little said.

These are just some of the many significant steps taken over past year to help the nation reach the Strategy’s goals. What innovative approaches to HIV testing are underway in your community? Share your examples to inspire others in the Comments section below.

For more information, visit CDC’s HIV Testing page or read the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2011 fact sheet “HIV Testing in the United States”.