[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 232 (Wednesday, December 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77472-77473]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26586]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Request for Information: HIV National Strategic Plan 2021-2025 
Available for Public Comment

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and Human 
Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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Summary:  The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of 
Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) in the Office of the 
Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) announces the draft HIV National 
Strategic Plan: A Roadmap to End the HIV Epidemic (2021-2025) (HIV 
Plan) available for public comment. The draft HIV Plan may be reviewed 
at www.hiv.gov.

DATES: All comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. ET on December 14, 
2020 to be considered.

ADDRESSES: All comments must be submitted electronically to 
[email protected] to be considered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold J. Phillips, OIDP, 
[email protected], 202-725-8872.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National HIV/AIDS Strategy, first 
released in 2010 and updated in 2015, changed the way that Americans 
talk about HIV and the ways that stakeholders prioritize and coordinate 
resources and deliver prevention and care services that support people 
with HIV or at risk for HIV. As a result, the nation's new HIV 
infections have declined from their peak in the mid-1980s--although 
remaining stable over the past decade--and people with HIV in care and 
treatment are living longer, healthier lives. In 2018 the estimated 
number of new HIV infections was 36,400. A robust prevention toolbox 
that includes pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), post-exposure 
prophylaxis (PEP), and syringe services programs (SSPs) has lowered a 
person's risk of acquiring HIV. Research in recent years has proven 
that people with HIV who take antiretroviral therapy achieve and 
maintain an undetectable viral load, not protect their health but also 
have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV through sex.
    This stability in the annual number of new infections, though, has 
further illuminated opportunities for focused efforts. According to the 
most recent available data, less than one-half (38.9%) of the U.S. 
population have ever been tested for HIV \1\ and an estimated 161,800 
(14%) people with HIV are unaware of their status.\2\ Only 63% of 
people diagnosed with HIV are virally suppressed.\3\ Approximately 80% 
of new HIV infections are due to people who do not know they have HIV 
or are not receiving regular care,\4\ and only 18% of the approximately 
1.2 million people indicated for PrEP are receiving it.\5\ \6\
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    \1\ National HIV Testing Day--June 27, 2019. MMWR. 2019;68:561. 
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6825a1.
    \2\ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Estimated HIV 
incidence and prevalence in the United States, 2014-2018. HIV 
Surveillance Supplemental Report 2020;25(1). Accessed September 28, 
2020. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/library/reports/hiv-surveillance.html.
    \3\ Harris NS, Johnson AS, Huang YLA, et al. Vital Signs: status 
of human immunodeficiency virus testing, viral suppression, and HIV 
preexposure prophylaxis--United States, 2013-2018. MMWR. 
2019;68:1117-1123. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6848e1.
    \4\ Li Z, Purcell DW, Sansom SL, et al. Vital Signs: HIV 
transmission along the continuum of care--United States, 2016. MMWR. 
2019;68:267-272. Figure 1. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6811e1.
    \5\ Harris NS, Johnson AS, Huang YLA, et al. Vital Signs: status 
of human immunodeficiency virus testing, viral suppression, and HIV 
preexposure prophylaxis--United States, 2013-2018. MMWR. 
2019;68:1117-1123. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6848e1.
    \6\ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV Surveillance 
Data Tables (early release): Core indicators for monitoring the 
Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative (preliminary data): HIV diagnoses 
and linkage to HIV medical care, 2019 (reported through December 
2019); and preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP)--2018, updated. HIV 
Surveillance Data Tables 2020;1(2). Accessed October 16, 2020. 
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/library/reports/surveillance-data-tables/index.html.
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    To respond and address the HIV public health epidemic, OASH through 
OIDP, in collaboration with a steering committee composed of a wide 
array of federal partners, has led and coordinated development of the 
HIV Plan. Opportunities for public input were provided, and public 
comments received were reviewed and analyzed, to help inform 
development of the components of the HIV Plan. The HIV Plan covers the 
entire country, provides a roadmap across the federal government, non-
federal partners and stakeholders in all sectors of society, and 
encourages integration of several key components that are vital to our 
collective work.
    The HIV Plan is the nation's third consecutive national HIV 
strategy. It sets forth bold targets for ending the HIV epidemic in the 
United States by 2030, including a 75% reduction in new HIV infections 
by 2025 and a 90% reduction by 2030. The HIV Plan articulates goals, 
objectives, and strategies to prevent new infections, treat people with 
HIV to improve health outcomes, reduce HIV-related disparities, and 
better integrate and coordinate the efforts of all partners to end the 
HIV epidemic in the United States. The HIV Plan also establishes 
indicators to measure progress, with quantitative targets for each 
indicator, and designates populations disproportionately impacted by 
and at risk for HIV as well as key areas of focus.
    The order of goals, objectives, and strategies does not indicate 
any prioritization, and many are intertwined. The following are the HIV 
Plan's vision and four goals:
    Vision: The United States will be a place where new HIV infections 
are prevented, every person knows their status, and every person with 
HIV has high-quality care and treatment and lives free from stigma and 
discrimination. This vision includes all people, regardless of age, 
sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race,

[[Page 77473]]

ethnicity, religion, disability, geographic location, or socioeconomic 
circumstance.

Goals

    1. Prevent new HIV infections;
    2. Increase knoweldge of HIV status;
    3. Reduce HIV-related disparities and health inequities; and
    4. Achieve integrated, coordinated efforts that adddress the HIV 
epidemic among all partners and stakeholders.

Information Needs

    The draft HIV Plan may be reviewed at: www.hiv.gov.
    OIDP seeks to obtain feedback from external stakeholders on the 
following:
    1. Do the draft plan's goals, objectives, and strategies 
appropriately address the HIV epidemic?
    2. Are there any critical gaps in the HIV Plan's goals, objectives, 
and strategies? If so, please specify the gaps.
    3. Do any of the HIV Plan's goals, objectives and strategies cause 
concern? If so, please specify the goal, objective or strategy, and 
describe the concern regarding it.
    Each commenter is limited to a maximum of seven pages.

    Authority: 77 FR 15761 (March 16, 2012).

    Dated: November 25, 2020.
B. Kaye Hayes,
Acting Director, Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy.
[FR Doc. 2020-26586 Filed 12-1-20; 8:45 am]
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