The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is inviting comments on the draft national strategic plans for sexually transmitted infections and viral hepatitis. HHS, through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and its Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP), has been coordinating development of both plans by federal partners from across HHS and other departments.

HHS seeks input from a broad mix of stakeholders on whether each draft plan’s goals, objectives, and strategies appropriately address the subject epidemic (STIs or viral hepatitis) and whether there are any critical gaps. Both plans intersect in important ways with the national response to HIV, will complement the forthcoming National HIV Strategic Plan, and will bolster efforts underway to end the HIV epidemic in the United States.

Details on how to review each plan and share comments follow.

STI National Strategic Plan

OIDP has published a Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register to solicit input on the draft of the first-ever STI National Strategic Plan (STI Plan) to address the nation’s STI epidemic. The draft STI Plan and a link to the RFI are posted on www.hhs.gov/STI. The deadline for comments is 5:00 PM (ET) on October 1, 2020.  All comments must be submitted electronically to STDPlan@hhs.gov no later than the deadline, to be considered.

Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan

The next iteration of the national plan to address the viral hepatitis epidemic, the draft Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan: A Roadmap to Elimination 2021-2025 (Hepatitis Plan), provides a framework to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030. OIDP has published an RFI in the Federal Register to solicit input on the draft Hepatitis Plan. The draft Hepatitis Plan and a link to the RFI are posted on www.hhs.gov/hepatitis. The deadline for comments is 5:00 PM (ET) on October 8, 2020. All comments must be submitted electronically to HepatitisPlanComments@hhs.gov no later than the deadline, to be considered.