Overview
HIV infection weakens a person’s immune system by destroying important cells that protect against disease and infection. There are highly effective medications to treat HIV, also called highly active antiretroviral therapy (or HAART), that both improve health and prevent onward transmission, and medications that can be taken to prevent HIV acquisition called Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis or PrEP. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences (BIDLS) supports clinical and community-based organizations to provide HIV prevention, care, and treatment services.
BIDLS takes an integrated approach to addressing HIV, viral hepatitis, STIs, TB, and other related infections of public health importance such as Mpox. This involves integrated policy approaches; centralized specimen collection; co-testing (for HIV, HCV, and syphilis); HIV, viral hepatitis, and STI disease surveillance and case management in a single data system; and an integrated infectious disease drug assistance program. For purposes of the SHIP, DPH is focusing on HIV, STIs and TB.
Check out the other topics in this priority area: STIs and tuberculosis.
Data
This interactive HIV data dashboard is a data visualization tool that contains detailed information about HIV in Massachusetts. This tool tracks key indicators including trends in HIV diagnoses, descriptive demographic characteristics, race and ethnicity, reported mode of HIV exposure, HIV rates, and key HIV care continuum data (e.g., linkage to care and viral suppression). The dashboard allows community members, HIV service planners, and others to tailor data inquiries by various demographic characteristics to understand the impact of HIV in geographic and population contexts.
HIV/HCV/STI/TB Services System
BIDLS supports a comprehensive system of HIV prevention, care, and treatment services. BIDLS-funded agencies provide culturally competent integrated HIV/HCV/STI/TB testing and linkage services (inclusive of vaccination), harm reduction services (inclusive of syringe services), Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) navigation, HCV and LTBI short-term health navigation, HIV medical case management, housing search and advocacy services, legal services, medical nutrition therapy, HIV oral health services, transportation assistance, HIV/HCV correctional linkage to care services, and an HIV, PrEP, Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), and TB drug assistance program. Individuals who are newly diagnosed with HIV are engaged through BIDLS Partner Services, a team of field epidemiologists that follows up all new HIV diagnoses to facilitate linkage to care.
Integrated HIV Prevention and Care Planning
The Massachusetts and Boston Integrated HIV Prevention and Care Plan: 2022-2026 describes strategies to prevent new infections, reduce health inequities, and improve health outcomes for persons living with HIV infection. The Integrated Plan builds upon the efforts of previous planning activities including the 2016-2021 Integrated HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Plan, the Ending the HIV Epidemic Plan for Suffolk County, and the Getting to Zero Coalition’s Massachusetts Comprehensive Plan to Eliminate HIV Discrimination, AIDS Related Death, and New HIV Infections.
Partners involved in Integrated HIV Prevention and Care Planning:
- Massachusetts Integrated HIV Prevention and Care Committee (MIPCC)
- Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) Steering Committee
- Statewide Consumer Advisory Group (SWCAG)
- Behavioral Health Advisor Group
- Black Health Advisory Group
- Latine Health Advisory Group
- Gay Men’s Health Advisory Group
- Aging Healthy with HIV Advisory Group
- Transgender, Nonbinary, and Gender Expansive Advisory Group
- Women’s Health Advisory Group
- City of Boston, Ryan White Services Division
- City of Boston, Part A EMA HIV/AIDS Planning Council
- City of Boston, Part A EMA Planning Council – Consumer Committee
BIDLS tracks progress towards achieving the goals of the Integrated Plan by utilizing surveillance data, such as the data included in DPH’s Epidemiological Profiles, the Integrated HIV, STI and Viral Hepatitis report, and the data dashboard. BIDLS disseminates information about the status of progress during regular MIPCC and EHE Steering Committee meetings, and during annual HIV provider meetings.
Goals
BIDLS leads a response to HIV across five goals:
Goal A - Diagnose: Increase the ability to identify new HIV cases
Goal B - Treat: Improve health outcomes for people with HIV
Goal C - Prevent: Reduce number of new HIV infections and increase HIV awareness and knowledge among the public
Goal D - Respond: Improve HIV respond functions through systems strengthening
Goal E - Workforce: Strengthen and expand the HIV workforce
To learn more, review related plans:
Additional Resources
Community Engagement
BIDLS is committed to meaningful community advisory to advance the goals and objectives of the Integrated Plan with a focus on health equity and racial equity. Advisory groups are organized by common and intersectional experiences across sexuality, race, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, HIV status, and behavioral and environmental lived experience such as substance use, homelessness, or incarceration. Advisory groups draw on the expertise and knowledge of their members to identify strategies intended to improve health outcomes across the HIV care continuum. Advisory groups promote shared responsibility for achieving goals identified in the Integrated Plan.