Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy

The Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy (OHAIDP), within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), advises the Secretary, Assistant Secretary for Health, and other senior U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials on health policy and program issues related to HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, other infectious diseases of public health significance, as well as blood safety and availability. OHAIDP is responsible for coordinating, integrating, and directing HHS policies, programs, and activities related to these issues, which cut across the Department’s Operating Divisions and Staff Offices that provide research, services, prevention, treatment, and education and information dissemination to vulnerable populations.

OHAIDP develops and supports initiatives to promote HHS policies, programs, and resources, including:

• National HIV/AIDS Strategy—OHAIDP facilitates, supports and monitors the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy across HHS. The Strategy is the nation’s comprehensive coordinated roadmap addressing HIV/AIDS with clear and measurable targets to be achieved by 2015 that seek to reduce HIV transmission, increase access to HIV care and improve health outcomes, and reduce HIV-related disparities and health inequities. OHAIDP also facilitates coordination related to implementation of the Strategy with other Federal Departments and Agencies and serves as the HHS liaison with the Office of National AIDS Policy in the Executive Office of the President. 

• Secretary’s Minority AIDS Initiative Fund—OHAIDP administers the Secretary’s Minority AIDS Initiative Fund (SMAIF). These resources, appropriated by Congress, are distributed annually on a competitive basis to HHS agencies and staff offices to support HIV prevention, care and treatment, outreach and education, capacity building, and technical assistance activities for racial and ethnic minorities in the United States who are at high-risk for, or living with, HIV/AIDS. The fund also supports cross-agency targeted demonstration projects aligned with the NHAS.

• AIDS.gov—AIDS.gov is a collaborative effort of departments and agencies across the Federal government to provide information on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care, and improve access to relevant Federal HIV resources, programs, and policies—including the National HIV/AIDS Strategy—to the American public. AIDS.gov also seeks to enhance the use of new media tools by government, minority-serving organizations, and other partners to extend the reach of HIV programs to communities at greatest risk as well as increase knowledge about HIV and access to HIV services for people most at-risk for, or living with, HIV. HHS is the managing sponsor of AIDS.gov, which is administered by OHAIDP. AIDS.gov disseminates information via a web site as well as a blog, several new media channels, and by technical assistance to partners.

• Action Plan for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis—OHAIDP leads the intra- and inter-departmental efforts to implement the Action Plan for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis. The Action Plan details steps to increase viral hepatitis awareness and knowledge among health care providers and communities, and improve access to quality prevention, care, and treatment services for viral hepatitis, which affects as many as 5 million Americans, many of whom are unaware of their infections. OHAIDP identifies and facilitates opportunities for enhanced interagency collaboration on viral hepatitis matters, monitors and reports on progress in implementing the Action Plan, seeks opportunities to leverage existing resources, and strengthens partnerships inside and outside of government.

• Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS—OHAIDP provides analytic and administrative support to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS(PACHA). The Advisory Council provides advice, information, and recommendations to the Secretary and to the President regarding programs, policies, and research priorities intended to promote effective prevention, care, and treatment of HIV disease and to advance research on HIV disease and AIDS. This council of HIV/AIDS experts is composed of a diverse group of researchers, service providers, and community leaders from around the country, including people living with HIV. The Council also includes people who are from community-based organizations that cater to the medical, legal, or mental health needs of people living with HIV and AIDS.

• Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability—OHAIDP also provides analytic and administrative support to the Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability (ACBSA). The Committee provides advice to the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary for Health on a range of policy issues regarding the safety and availability of blood and blood products, transfusion and transplantation safety, and product cost and supply.

Content provided by OHAIDP.