AIDSWatch, hosted by AIDS United in partnership with the U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus and the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, is the largest constituent-led HIV advocacy event in the country. For 31 years, those of us living with HIV and our allies have advocated on the state, local and national level for the policies that will end the HIV epidemic. As we look toward the upcoming election cycle, we continue this advocacy work, prioritizing policies related to quality of life, health care access, civil rights, aging with HIV, HIV decriminalization and federal funding. While there has been tremendous progress since that first AIDSWatch, we still need vigorous HIV advocacy.
The theme of this year’s event is We’re in This Together! – which will focus on how we all must work together, as people living with and vulnerable to HIV have multiple identities, which are interconnected, shared and currently under attack. The theme prioritizes the meaningful involvement of people living with HIV, as these principles ensure that the communities most affected by HIV are involved in decision-making, at every level of the response — and that includes policy.
We are pleased to share with you several policy priorities that can make a profound impact on the health and well being of people living with HIV. Thank you for your help in information sharing and educating. Through this policy brief, we include federal policy requests for different public health areas impacting people living with and vulnerable to HIV. These policy priorities can be viewed by clicking on the relevant collapsible links, which allow you to adjust the visibility of content by clicking that policy subject.
People living with HIV are the experts of their own lives. Sharing your story with legislators is one of the key components of public health advocacy — having the courage to share your truth to people in power is no small feat!
We look forward to continuing to work with you to ensure Congress provides us with the tools necessary to address the needs of people living with and vulnerable to HIV and to maintain connection with your constituents impacted by HIV.