Ending the HIV Epidemic
Ending the HIV Epidemic: New Jersey Strategic Plan for Essex and Hudson Counties 2020-2030
The Essex and Hudson Counties Ending the HIV Epidemic plan is the result of a collaborative effort on the part of Essex and Hudson County HIV service providers, planning bodies, stakeholders, community members and the New Jersey Department of Health’s (NJDOH) Division of HIV, STD and TB Services (DHSTS). It serves as a supplemental document to NJ’s statewide plan, New Jersey Ends the HIV Epidemic: A Strategic Plan, 2019-2025, and concentrates specifically on the needs of Essex and Hudson County. All strategies outlined in the statewide plan are also applicable to these two counties, but there are specific and unique needs within these two counties that warranted additional strategies. Each of the activities listed below apply to both counties, unless specified as an Essex or Hudson specific activity. Both Essex and Hudson each created a taskforce to address their respective county’s funding and collaborate internally, and then come together with each other and with the DOH to ensure the greatest impact.
To end the HIV epidemic in Essex and Hudson Counties, it is essential to accomplish seven overarching goals:
- Increase organizational capacity and collaboration for EHE (Planning and Development)
- Develop comprehensive data sharing and data-to-care system and infrastructure (Planning and Development)
- Promote access to testing so that 100% of persons living with HIV/AIDS know their status (Pillar One: Diagnose)
- Increase linkage to care and VLS to 90% (Pillar 2: Treat)
- Reduce the number of new HIV infections by 75% (Pillar 3: Prevent)
- Respond to Cluster Detection Activities (Pillar 4: Respond)
- Evaluate Performance on EHE (Evaluation)" - Essex and Hudson Counties Ending the HIV Epidemic Plan
To learn more about the Essex and Hudson Counties Ending the HIV Epidemic Plan or to download this plan click on the link below: Essex and Hudson Counties Ending the HIV Epidemic Plan Final.pdf
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In February 2019, the federal government introduced a new initiative "Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America". This is a ten-year initiative beginning in FY 2020 focused on reducing new HIV infections by 2030. The initiative will involve several government agencies, including Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) among others. Through this federal initiative, funding will primarily be distributed to 48 counties with the highest burden of new HIV diagnoses to “End the Epidemic” in their jurisdiction.
HHS released a guide to this initiative’s plan, Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America. Their guide outlines the four key strategies the plan will utilize to reach its goals: Diagnose, Treat, Protect, and Respond. This plan aims to:
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
To learn more about this initiative, visit the links below:
https://www.hiv.gov/federal-response/ending-the-hiv-epidemic/overview
https://www.cdc.gov/endhiv/index.html
https://www.hrsa.gov/ending-hiv-epidemic
https://www.hhs.gov/blog/2019/02/05/ending-the-hiv-epidemic-a-plan-for-america.html
https://www.nastad.org/maps/ending-hiv-epidemic-jurisdictional-plans