All people in North Carolina experience sexual health with equitable access to quality and culturally competent prevention, treatment, and management of sexually transmitted infections.
Why Is This Important?
HIV can cause lifelong physical and psychological consequences. When left untreated, HIV can also be transmitted to sexual partners and unborn children. 2022 NC SHIP, pg. 84.
Story Behind the Curve
Thousands of people in the United States are diagnosed with HIV every year. Many people have HIV for years before they know it. Testing everyone ages 13 to 64 years for HIV at least once in their lifetime — and testing people at high risk for HIV at least once a year — can lead to early diagnosis and treatment.
People must feel safe when seeking health care. This means acknowledging the person respectfully – especially for transgender individuals. Good quality sexual health education across the lifespan helps to normalize and integrate sexual health as a standard component of overall health awareness. Clinical staff must receive training specific to clinical care for transgender people.
Non-traditional testing and notification systems are needed. These could include multiple ways for people to notify other people of exposure, such as a website for anonymous contact notification. Home based STI testing and virtual clinical visits could improve early detection. 2022 NC SHIP, pg. 88
Partners
Carolinas CARE Partnership |
https://www.carolinascare.org/ |
Duke PrEP Clinic For HIV Prevention |
https://www.dukehealth.org/locations/duke-prep-clinic-hiv-prevention |
Durham County Department of Public Health- Formerly Incarcerated Transitions (FIT) Program |
https://www.dcopublichealth.org/services/std-hiv-testing |
Equality North Carolina |
https://equalitync.org/issues/hiv_aids_work/ |
Getting To Zero Mecklenburg |
https://www.mecknc.gov/HealthDepartment/GettingToZero/Pages/Home.aspx |
NC Council of Churches- Growing Communities of Inclusion: A Faithful Response to HIV/AIDS |
https://www.ncchurches.org/growing-communities-of-inclusion-a-faithful-response-to-hiv/ |
NC DHHS HIV Care Program |
https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/hiv/program.html |
NC DHHS Medicaid Be Smart Family Planning Program |
https://ncgov.servicenowservices.com/sp_beneficiary?id=kb_article&sys_id=389050c51b5424906aacdb1ee54bcba8&table=kb_knowledge |
NC DHHS NC HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Advisory Committee (HPCAC) |
https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/stds/programs/hpcac.html |
NC DHHS North Carolina Injury & Violence Prevention Branch- North Carolina Safer Syringe Initiative |
https://www.injuryfreenc.ncdhhs.gov/ |
North Carolina AIDS Action Network (NCAAN) |
http://www.ncaan.org/ |
North Carolina Area Health Education Centers (NC AHEC) |
https://www.ncahec.net/about-nc-ahec/statewide-work |
North Carolina Association of Pharmacists (NCAP) |
https://www.ncpharmacists.org/ |
NC Board of Pharmacy |
http://www.ncbop.org/ |
North Carolina Community Health Center Association (NCCHCA) |
https://www.ncchca.org/ |
North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition (NCHRC)-Syringe Exchange Program |
https://www.nchrc.org/about/ |
NC Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) |
https://nciom.org/ |
North Carolina Sheriff’s Association (NCSA) |
https://ncsheriffs.org/ |
Regional AIDS Interfaith Network (RAIN) |
RAIN (carolinarain.org) |
Sexual Health Initiatives For Teens (SHIFT) |
https://www.shiftnc.org/ |
Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) |
https://www.sophe.org/ |
Southeast STD/HIV Prevention and Training Center |
https://nnptc.org/locations/southeast-stdhiv-prevention-training-center |
The North Carolina Barbers Association |
https://www.ncbarbae.com/home |
The Task Force For Global Health- Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination |
https://taskforce.org/viral-hepatitis/ |
UNC Center for Health Equity Research (CHER)- TRANSforming the Carolinas Project |
https://www.med.unc.edu/cher/ |
What Works
- Address systemic issues of provider discomfort discussing HIV and sexual health especially with young people and LGBTQ populations
- Allow pharmacists to provide post-exposure prophylaxis
- Ensure availability of free condoms at health departments and community-based organizations
- Ensure people who are diagnosed are linked with appropriate care and receive behavioral interventions and other supports to decrease risk of transmission
- Harm reduction, such as needle exchange programs, housing programs
- Implement interventions that improve access to HIV treatment
- Increase access to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) for individuals at high risk for HIV transmission
- Increase education and access for formerly incarcerated populations
- Increase Medicaid eligibility
- Make testing easy, accessible, and routine
Description of Indicator Data
NC Division of Public Health, Epidemiology Section
Additional Data Needed at Local Level
- Availability of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) within community
- Social media platforms used by the at-risk community
- Community awareness of sexual health
- Access to care for sexual health
Measures
Clear Impact Suite is an easy-to-use, web-based software platform that helps your staff collaborate with external stakeholders and community partners by utilizing the combination of data collection, performance reporting, and program planning.