Washington, DC, June 12, 2023 — The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Communities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief (CAEAR) Coalition formally announce a strategic partnership to foster collaboration among local health department HIV programs in Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) jurisdictions and Ryan White Part A grantees.
The goal of the partnership is to share information, build capacity, provide technical assistance, and advocate for effective programming. NACCHO represents the country’s nearly 3,000 U.S. local health departments, including departments in the 49 EHE-target communities, while the CAEAR Coalition represents the 52 communities funded under Part A of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment Program. This is the first formal effort to connect communities and share best practices across local jurisdictions implementing these federal programs.
The federal Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative added and targeted new federal funding to 49 counties and cities in the U.S. highly impacted by HIV. It is the first Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) initiative of its kind to use data to target HIV-related resources directly to the county and city level to complement funding already provided to states, clinics, and community-based organizations. While the resources have been game-changing for many of these jurisdictions, they have also added a level of complexity to partnerships between states, local governments, and the community for HIV prevention and care. The Ryan White Part A program, funded through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), has supported local community partnerships since 1990. To be eligible for these resources, both local health department leadership and strong community involvement are required. While many of the EHE and Ryan White Part A programs serve the same communities, they target different aspects of the HIV epidemic.
The NACCHO-CAEAR partnership convenes Ryan White Part A and EHE-eligible local health departments to share information, best practices, and lessons learned from the field. Together, partnership leaders engage a direct line of communication with both CDC and HRSA federal partners providing concise and specific information on the successes and challenges in implementing Ryan White Part A and EHE programming, helping to inform needed administrative streamlining and technical assistance.
“Local health departments and Ryan White Part A jurisdictions are on the frontlines of HIV care and prevention efforts at the community level. We are proud to partner with the CAEAR Coalition to help streamline communications, share best practices, and ensure they have all the resources they need to help end the HIV epidemic,” said Lori Tremmel Freeman, Chief Executive Officer of NACCHO.
“With CAEAR’s history and connection with Ryan White Part A jurisdictions and the community and NACCHO’s extensive communications and capacity-building capabilities, the partnership is uniquely positioned to provide technical assistance and capacity-building support to local health departments, Ryan White Part A grantees, and EHE jurisdictions for the delivery of HIV care,” said Graham Harriman, Chair of the CAEAR Coalition.
To learn more about the NACCHO HIV portfolio, please visit our webpage here. Visit the CAEAR Coalition webpage here.
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About NACCHO
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation’s nearly 3,000 local governmental health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information about NACCHO, please visit www.naccho.org.
About the CAEAR Coalition
The Communities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief (CAEAR) Coalition advocates for robust federal funding and community-based responses to end the HIV epidemic. It is a national membership organization rooted in the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program that works to end the HIV epidemic by ensuring equitable access to welcoming, high-quality health care and support services. For more information about CAEAR, please visit www.caear.org.
