So many emotions can swirl within communities of long-term survivors and of those newly diagnosed. Our thoughts are with the many people who have passed on, their caretakers, and to those living with HIV – showing us what perseverance and determination looks like each day. May today serve as a reminder to show up for people and address the social determinants of health, which are responsible for the continued number of new cases.

STDs are associated with an increased risk of HIV infection. STD Prevention is HIV Prevention. Like STDs, HIV is most commonly transmitted through sex. Therefore, individuals who are at risk for STDs can be at risk for HIV.

It’s long overdue for us to re-evaluate our priorities and center our efforts among communities faced with the highest burdens of poverty, unemployment, unstable housing, and disease. Explicitly, we should actively engage communities with a rejuvenated vigor. To borrow from our NCSD member Tom Bertrand of Rhode Island, “We should never label  any group as ‘hard-to-reach’ before asking ourselves if our services are actually ‘hard–to-reach.’”

We should also remind ourselves when offering our services, people are experts in their own experiences. Our public health strategies have to be accommodating and not forceful. We should also embrace harm reduction as a true tool in HIV prevention. We know syringe access programs, PrEP/ PEP, and condoms work. Still, these are not one-size-fits-all solutions. We must continue, as a community, moving forward with much-needed advances. We can dismantle these silos and act with intersectionality as the foundation. This underlines the importance of the partnerships NCSD has with the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), Advocates for Youth, and the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA).

It’s worth repeating: STD Prevention is HIV Prevention. The tools we have assembled at NCSD are intended to equip people with strategies in reducing their chances of contracting HIV and other STDs. There is an estimated 2- to 5-fold increased risk of acquiring HIV if exposed to the virus when syphilis is present. Extragenital STD testing can serve as a tool to assess STDs like gonorrhea and chlamydia even when asymptomatic. Increased access to PrEP is a necessity, yet comprehensive sexual health should take precedence over treating people like vectors of disease due to their identities.

May today be the day we recommit ourselves to tackling HIV and improving the holistic health of communities often forgotten. NCSD is here in solidarity and wishing well today.