Review and Preview: National HIV Observances and Events

Content From: HIV.govPublished: July 18, 20193 min read

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Screen capture of the HIV.gov Awareness Days pages.

Looking Ahead

Today we outline some of the events we expect to blog about during the remainder of 2019. These blogs are part of our efforts to support Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America.

We expect to report about developments from the IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2019) and the U.S. Conference on AIDS (USCA). To stay in the know, clicking this “Conferences” tag will get you all the blogs in which we report about these (and other) conferences. (Don’t miss our related content on social media as well!)

You can keep up with our blogs about national health observances by clicking on these tags: Awareness Days, National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day (September 18) and National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (September 27).

We will round out the year with blogs that provide communication resources for both National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day (October 15) and World AIDS Day (December 1). Other blogs will cover policy and programmatic and research developments that could inform your messages for these observances.

Even as we communicate about upcoming observances and events on the blog, you can also find resources and follow updates on our FacebookExit Disclaimer, TwitterExit Disclaimer, and InstagramExit Disclaimer accounts and emails.

The HIV.gov team also did a mid-year review of our editorial calendar with a focus on our blogs about HIV-related observance days and events. Below are our reflections.

Looking Back

Winter 2019

At National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we shared thoughts from community leadership about the observance. Our February 7th interview with Deja Abdul-Haqq, from the Strategic Leadership Council and My Brother's Keeper, Inc., looked at this year’s theme along with the history and purpose of the Awareness Day. We posted about the Eliminating Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS in Indian Country Initiative (part of the President’s Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America) for National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Our March blogs amplified the HHS Office on Women’s Health message for National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day that together, we can make progress toward preventing new HIV transmissions.

As part of our conference coverage, we posted a summary of HIV research presented at the 2019 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). In reviewing this blog, our team was reminded of progress and the possible developments to come.

Spring 2019

At National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day, we highlighted how youth engage with health care. And, in light of Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America, we reported on local events supporting HIV testing and diagnosis among youth.

Some of our blogs collected communication resources for National Transgender HIV Testing Day, or reported on CDC’s perspective on the importance of reaching and serving this community.

In May, we posted blogs that curated resources that the community could use to learn more about and mark two consecutive observances: National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and HIV Vaccine Awareness Day.

As usual, we covered the news around National HIV Testing Day. “Most Americans Have Never Had an HIV Test, New Data Show” (a cross-post from CDC) reported on new data and the urgency to expand testing. Our blog “Up Close: The New and Improved HIV.gov Services Locator” described the tool’s new features and its value in connecting people to prevention and care. For more coverage, see this digest post.

Before, on, and after national health observance days, HIV.gov looks to serve the information and communication needs of our readers. Stay in the know with a subscription to the HIV.gov blog.