HIV, STI, Viral Hepatitis, and Harm Reduction Digest
November 22, 2023
NACCHO News and Announcements
NACCHO & KFF Social Impact Media Survey
We’ve extended the survey deadline until December 18, 2023!
NACCHO and KFF are interested in understanding how health departments are currently leading with marketing and communications work and what health departments are interested in learning more about to help better inform their communications efforts. Please have a team member who is familiar with your digital communications respond to this short survey! https://bit.ly/NACCHOandKFFSurvey
EHE Superstars: Building Women’s Life and Leadership Capacity through Housing in Detroit
Check out NACCHO’s second blog in our series highlighting outstanding collaborations between health departments and community partners in jurisdictions working to improve community health and inequities through the national Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) Initiative.
Sexual Health Services in Jails Webinar
Wondering how STIs are being addressed in jail settings? If so, join NACCHO for its Sexual Health Services in Jails webinar session on Wednesday, January 10th at 2pm EST as we discuss several jail projects across the country, including Yuba County Health and Human Services, Northern Nevada Public Health, and Orange County Corrections/Health Services Department. During the webinar, we will discuss how these jail projects have been implemented, key staff involved, as well as lessons learned/best practices. If interested, register here.
HIV Marketing Webinar Recording
NACCHO and KFF continued their marketing and communications webinar series with the second session, HIV Marketing. During this session, participants were joined by Fulton County Health Department, Clark County Health Department and KFF Social Impact Media to learn more about creating effective HIV Marketing Campaigns. The recording is available here. Thanks to everyone who joined and stay tuned for the next session. Office Hours for HIV Marketing will be held on December for 14 at 1 pm (EST). Please click here to register.
Dear Colleague Template Letter on Syphilis Available
In response to the Vital Signs put out by the CDC earlier this month which showed large increases in syphilis in newborns as well as stillbirths caused by syphilis, ASTHO (the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials) created a template “dear colleague“ letter for State Health Officials to use when reaching out to providers and partner organizations to inform them of the new data. We wanted to share this template letter with you in case you are also planning to send out a similar letter to providers on the topic. For more information on the findings in the Vital Signs, read NACCHO’s press release.
If you have any questions about what is contained in the letter or the Vital Signs, please reach out to Rebekah Horowitz, Director of STI Programs.
NACCHO Funding Opportunities
Capacity Building Assistance for Training to Providers to work with AI/AN Communities
In partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NACCHO is pleased to offer a funding opportunity to create and/or modify trainings for the National Network of STD Clinical Prevention Training Centers (NNPTCs) to use to educate providers on how to best offer sexual health services for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) individuals and communities. In addition, in collaboration with the NNPTC, the applicant will review current training curricula provided by the prevention training centers on prioritized topics to provide suggestions on how to strengthen the content for work with AI/AN communities. The developed/modified training and any suggested modifications/additions to PTC curricula will be available for use by all PTCs as necessary and desired.
The goal of this effort will be to create a repository of materials to be used for assuring that trainings being provided by the PTCs incorporate the unique elements needed for working with AI/AN individuals to address STIs/HIV as appropriate. The recipient should already have a provider for continuing education (CE) accreditation or work with CDC to receive CE accreditation for the trainings or modules developed as needed. Through this funding opportunity, NACCHO will provide up to $200,000 to one (1) organization to perform this work.
Applications must be submitted by Thursday, November 30th at 11:59 PM PT and selections will occur by Wednesday, December 7th. Check out the RFP for further details.
Request for Proposals: Learning Collaboratives to Enhance Local Health Capacity to Serve Afghan Refugee, Immigrant, Migrant Communities
In partnership with the University of Minnesota National Resource Center for Refugee, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM), NACCHO is pleased to offer a funding opportunity to LHDs and community-based organizations to collaborate to strengthen public health services targeting Afghan refugees, immigrants, and migrants.
Applications must be submitted electronically by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday, December 1st, 2023.
Check out the Request for Proposals here.
Enhancing Local Health Capacity to Serve Afghan Refugee, Immigrant, Migrant Communities Consultant
Note: The deadline has been extended to Friday, December 1 at 5 pm ET. In partnership with the University of Minnesota National Resource Center for Refugee, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM), NACCHO is pleased to offer a funding opportunity to a consultant to provide training and technical assistance to build capacity of LHDs and CBOs to effectively collaborate with Afghan refugee, immigrant, and migrant communities for improved Afghan community public health. NACCHO will award up to $75,000 to a consultant or firm to support funded LHDs and CBOs to conduct resource and network mapping, community, and partner engagement, and develop a subsequent implementation plan to expand, tailor and adapt their services and resources to effectively reach current and future Afghan populations in their communities. As well as to identify successes, challenges, and lessons learned in these mapping and planning processes and disseminate to other jurisdictions.
For more information, check out the Request for Proposals here.
Request for Proposals: Developing and Implementing Protocols and Practices for Participant and Community Safety at Harm Reduction Programs
With support from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NACCHO is seeking to identify a Contractor to help develop guidance on creating and implementing safety protocols and practices for fixed-site harm reduction programs, including those operated at, or by, LHDs. Guidance will be developed with input from fixed-site harm reduction programs, including those who have and have not developed formal protocols or practices to address safety of participants, staff, and others in the community. These protocols and practices can include de-escalation strategies, Mental Health First Aid, and other trauma-informed approaches to safety. Safety in this context is understood through the lens of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Harm Reduction Framework’s pillars and supporting principles to promote equity, rights, and reparative social justice, be non-coercive, and respect autonomy, and promote safety ‘as defined by people who use drugs, families, and community.’
Funds will be awarded through a fixed-price contract, in which contractors are reimbursed for completion of deliverables outlined in the agreement. The maximum available funding for this contract is $50,000.
Submissions must be electronic, in pdf format. The deadline for submission is 11:59pm, Eastern Standard Time, Friday, December 1, 2023. Decisions will be made, and applicants will be notified of their selection status, no later than Friday, December 8, 2023. Proposals should be submitted via e-mail to [email protected]. Access the request for proposals here.
Request for Applications: Using Effective Media Campaigns to Raise Awareness about Syphilis
In partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of STD Prevention (DSTDP), NACCHO is pleased to offer a funding opportunity to LHDs to support the creation of media and awareness building campaigns to increase community awareness of syphilis rates and prevention and treatment. NACCHO will provide funding for up to 10 health departments. Selected health departments will be required to implement a media and awareness building campaign aimed at decreasing the syphilis burden in their jurisdictions. Findings from this project will be shared broadly with other STI programs. Applications must be submitted by December 6, 2023, at 11:59 PT. Check out the Request for Applications here.
HIV, STI, Viral Hepatitis, & Harm Reduction Resources and News
Public Health Apprenticeship Program Listening Session
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) serves to help people affected by humanitarian crises to survive, recover and rebuild their lives. IRC is in the middle of a 2-year project geared at developing and piloting public health apprenticeship programs that aim to create a range of diverse public health workers able to serve equally diverse communities while providing high quality jobs to refugee, immigrants, and migrants. Although there is still much more work to be done, several key insights have been identified, and IRC welcomes the opportunity to discuss these initial findings with your team. Please join us on December 1st at 1 PM ET to share reactions, input, and feedback and learn a little bit more about this project. A registration link will be available soon.
FDA Clears at-Home Collection Kit for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea Test
The FDA on Wednesday cleared the first at-home sample collection kit for the sexually transmitted infections chlamydia and gonorrhea.
The collection kit, from the company LetsGetChecked, is available without a prescription. After activating the test online, consumers can take urine or vaginal swab samples at home and mail them back to a lab, similar to the at-home PCR Covid-19 test collection kits often used during the height of the pandemic. Like those tests, health care providers evaluate test results and contact anyone who tests positive for either infection, urging them to get treatment.
Previously, tests for chlamydia and gonorrhea required patients to visit a health care setting. “We are eager to continue supporting greater consumer access to diagnostic tests, which helps further our goal of bringing more health care into the home,” Dr. Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement.
Read more about it here.
Help Get the Word Out about HIV and STIs!
Join KFF for a webinar on Tuesday, December 5 at 1 pm ET / Noon CT / 10 am PT to learn more about Ask Me Anything!, a new campaign from KFF’s Greater Than and CDC’s Let’s Stop HIV Together featuring leading public health experts talking all things sexual health.
Find out how you can use the digital video series in your own outreach, including:
- Posting to your social media channels;
- Creating content libraries on your website;
- Sharing through e-newsletters;
- Placing paid media to reach priority audiences;
And more!
Grant Opportunity: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Strategic Prevention Framework- Partnerships for Success for Communities, Local Governments, Universities, Colleges, and Tribes/Tribal Organizations
The purpose of this program is to help reduce the onset and progression of substance misuse and its related problems by supporting the development and delivery of community-based substance misuse prevention and mental health promotion services. The program is intended to expand and strengthen the capacity of local community prevention providers to implement evidence-based prevention programs. Check out the opportunity here.
Let’s Talk about All Things STIs and Sexual Health
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia, continue to reach new highs for another consecutive year, according to the latest data from the CDC. Many people who have one don’t know. Left untreated, STIs can cause serious health problems. With early diagnosis and follow up, most STIs are curable and all are treatable.
Leandro Mena, MD, MPH and Charlene Flash, MD, MPH, talk all things STIs in new videos from KFF’s Greater Than and CDC’s Let’s Stop HIV Together.
The doctors explain why you can’t assume you would “know,” and that even asymptomatic STIs need to be treated. Watch & share.
