NACCHO News and Announcements
2025 NACCHO/NCSD DIS Scholarship
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and The National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) are pleased to offer scholarships for disease intervention specialists (DIS) who work in local and state health departments to attend NCSD’s annual meeting, STI Engage. This meeting will be held in person in Phoenix, AZ and will take place on June 3-5, 2025.
Both organizations recognize all that DIS have done and do to support the STI workforce and would like to honor that through this opportunity! Selected scholars will be able to attend numerous sessions focused on STI prevention and control, as well as sessions specific to their workforce and the opportunity to network with your national DIS colleagues. Scholarships will cover conference registration, lodging, travel, and per diem expenses. Please note that this scholarship will not be awarded to previous scholarship recipients, and we will be limiting this opportunity to DIS in non-supervisory DIS roles.
To apply, fill out the application here by February 21st, 2025. If there are any additional questions regarding this opportunity, please contact Emily Sanchez ([email protected]) or Leo Parker ([email protected]).
Application Deadline extended through January 31st: Syphilis Community of Practice: Connect with your peers to discuss addressing syphilis in your community!
Join NACCHO’s Syphilis Community of Practice (CoP)! This will include conversations about congenital syphilis and the broader implications of untreated syphilis across various populations and communities including ciswomen, MSM, and American Indian/Alaska Natives.
These sessions will allow local health department staff to hear about the work of others and collaborate to enhance their intervention strategies for syphilis. CoP meetings will start in February 2025, meeting on the second Thursday of every other month via Zoom for 1.5 hours.
To join, fill out this interest form by Friday, January 31, 2025. For questions, reach out to STI Senior Program Analyst Sonia Almonte.
Webinar: Revolutionizing Hepatitis C Elimination Programs: The Point-of-Care HCV RNA Testing Pathway
Jan 30, 2025 02:00 PM EST
The introduction of the first point-of-care HCV RNA test in the U.S. is set to revolutionize hepatitis C elimination programs. Learn how this novel solution simplifies hepatitis C diagnosis into a single step, enabling same-day “test and treat” (TaT) in community settings, reducing loss to follow up, and expediting linkage to care. Join our experts as they explain how this game-changing solution can drive and enhance innovative models of care that reach more people, improve cure rates, decrease onward transmission, and ultimately accelerate the elimination effort.Learning Objectives:
- Explain how the new test changes the hepatitis C diagnosis pathway
- Describe how the test can be implemented in community settings to overcome the major challenges facing hepatitis C elimination programs
- Outline the impact of a rural community “test and treat” program
HIV, STI, Hepatitis & Harm Reduction Resources and News
New content in FREE HIV, PrEP, STI, and HCV trainings from the Infectious Diseases Education & Assessment (IDEA) Program
National HIV Curriculum
- NEW National HIV Curriculum Podcast episodes explore practice-changing issues and updates in HIV diagnosis, management, and prevention through case discussions, expert interviews, and literature reviews:
- Switching ART Regimens: A Discussion – Expert Interview
- Disseminated MAC: Evaluation and Management – Case Discussion
- Initial ART Regimens Considerations: A Discussion – Expert Interview
- Implementation of the New HHS Anal Cancer Screening Guidelines – Expert Interview
- Pneumocystis Pneumonia: Management – Case Discussion
- The ANCHOR Study: Does Treatment of Anal HSIL Prevent Anal Cancer? – Literature Review
National HIV PrEP Curriculum
- New Clinician’s Information Guide: Doxy PEP for STI Prevention helps health care professionals implement CDC’s June 2024 guidelines on the use of doxycycline postexposure prophylaxis (doxy PEP).
National STD Curriculum
- NEW National STD Curriculum Podcast episodes explore innovative and significant STD issues and discuss the clinical implications through conference summaries, expert interviews, and literature reviews:
- Syphilis: Immune Response & Vaccine Development – Expert Interview
- IDWeek 2024: Mpox Updates – Conference Summary
- Syphilis: A 2024 Update – Literature Review
- Antimicrobial Resistance in STI Pathogens – Expert Interview
- STI Diagnostic Testing Options & Implementation – Expert Interview
- New Clinician’s Information Guide: Doxy PEP for STI Prevention helps health care professionals implement CDC’s June 2024 guidelines on the use of doxycycline postexposure prophylaxis (doxy PEP).
Hepatitis C Online
- NEW Hepatitis C Online Mini-Lectures where national experts discuss clinically relevant topics:
NASTAD RFA Release: HepNET Learning Communities for Strengthening Partnerships for People of Color: Black-Led Viral Hepatitis and Harm Reduction
NASTAD, in partnership with the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHR) and NACCHO, is seeking black harm reductionists working within Black-led hepatitis and harm reduction settings. The purpose of the Hepatitis Network for Education and Testing (HepNET) Learning Communities for Strengthening Partnerships for People of Color: Black-Led Viral Hepatitis and Harm Reduction is to improve viral hepatitis outcomes for Black people who use drugs by increasing support and building the capacity of the workforce currently engaged in efforts that center this population. Additionally, the Learning Community (LC) will facilitate partnerships between community-based harm reduction organizations and governmental public health (health departments). For more details, please reference the full RFA Here.
- Application Deadline: February 7, 2025, 11:59pm PST
- Number of Participants: 20
- Compensation: $40/Hr
- Period of Participation: Six (6) Months tentatively starting in April 2025
Access the application here.
Funding Opportunity: Street Medicine Interventions for People with HIV who are Unsheltered – Capacity Builder
The Capacity Building Provider (HRSA-25-055), the Demonstration Sites (HRSA-25-056), and the Evaluation Provider (HRSA-25-057) will collaborate to achieve the initiative’s goal and five objectives: Goal: Adapt, document, implement, evaluate, and disseminate street medicine interventions that effectively respond to the needs of people with HIV who are unsheltered.
Find more information regarding this opportunity here.
New Resource: 7 Things to Know About Syphilis
Check out this new video from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding some quick facts about syphilis.
New Video: Doxy PEP to Prevent Bacterial STIs
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published guidelines on use of doxy PEP – taking a prescribed dose of the antibiotic doxycycline shortly after sex – to prevent chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis in men who have sex with men and transgendered women. This is huge, the first new STI prevention tool in years, and we get the scoop on the promise of doxy PEP from Dr. Philip A. Chan, an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Brown University. Dr. Chan is a physician at the Rhode Island Department of Health, and also serves as Chief Medical Officer of Open Door Health- the state’s only LGBTQ+ health center.
Check out the video here.
News to Note
How Health Workers Can Help Protect Communities Against STIs - Public Good News
Health workers can protect communities from STIs through vaccines, culturally relevant outreach, routine screenings, and addressing barriers to healthcare, especially in underserved populations.
DoxyPEP Lowers Rate of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), Data Suggests – U.S. News
Using doxyPEP after sex, as recommended by the CDC, significantly reduces the risk of chlamydia, syphilis, and to a lesser extent gonorrhea, though concerns about fostering antibiotic resistance remain.
