Virginia Department of Health - Division of HIV, STD, and Pharmacy Services - E-Bulletin, October 2005
Virginia Department of Health
Division of HIV, STD, and Pharmacy Services
Electronic Bulletin
October 2005
Community Services
National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD) will be recognized on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005. Health districts, community-based organizations, and AIDS service organizations are encouraged to complete and return their NLAAD event submission forms. Forms can be faxed to (804) 864-7983. Event information will be posted on the Division’s Web page. For more information on the national campaign, visit www.nlaad.org. If you need an event form or more information on Virginia’s campaign, contact Shannon Marshall at (804) 864-7963 or Shannon.Marshall@vdh.virginia.gov.
The Division hosted its first four-day faith-based training entitled "Looking Back While Preparing to Move Forward: HIV/AIDS and the African American Church", September 12-15, 2005. This conference, targeting pastors, other clergy and lay leaders, was organized to address the urgency of the need to fight against HIV within the African American church. Conference participants were trained in two faith-based curricula- Keeping It Real and Breaking the Silence, and were part of an environment conducive to open dialogue regarding HIV/AIDS, other STDs and sex in the African American community. Pastors with extensive theological training served as presenters/facilitators to encourage those standing on the sidelines to begin addressing HIV prevention and compassionate care. Those already involved were armed with additional tools to use while conducting work within their respective faith institutions and communities. Participants drafted HIV prevention plans of action to implement within the next 30 to 45 days.
Health Care Services
Let your voice be heard! Public comment is being solicited for the Virginia Department of Health use of Ryan White CARE Act Title II funds during the 2006-2007 grant cycle, the Statewide Comprehensive Plan for HIV health care, and issues, barriers and emerging risk behaviors related to HIV prevention. Interested parties are encouraged to attend any of the public hearings in October listed here: www.vdh.virginia.gov/std/upcomingevents.asp. For questions related to the public hearings, please contact Ben Alonso, Health Care Planner, at (804) 864-8022 or ben.alonso@vdh.virginia.gov.
The CDC has released Updated U.S. Public Health Service Guidelines for the Management of Occupational Exposures to HIV and Recommendations for Postexposure Prophylaxis. Copies can be downloaded from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site by clicking the link above.
Health and Research Informatics
The CDC recently notified the Division that it has been awarded a grant to establish a STD Sentinel Surveillance Site in Richmond, VA. The Division will work with the CDC and the other sentinel surveillance site recipients to establish collaboratively defined criteria, similar to data that has been collected through the Outcomes Assessment through Systems of Integrated Surveillance grant. Sentinel surveillance will initially concentrate on gonorrhea but will be expanded to include additional STDs. Both public and private entities within the city of Richmond will be participants, with plans to expand into the larger Richmond Metropolitan Area in the second and third years of the grant. The funding cycle is scheduled to begin October 1, 2005. The six funded sites include Colorado, Minnesota, New York City, San Francisco, Virginia and Washington State.
The Division's Analysis, Visualization and Reporting (AVR) Coordinator recently designed and conducted a geographic information systems (GIS) training for VDH epidemiologists and related surveillance staff. This training was a collaborative effort between the Division and Emergency Preparedness and Response Programs staff. The goal is to ensure relevant staff has the basic skills required to perform GIS functions within their respective Health Districts and/or Central Office programs.