Task Force Charge and Mission
The Ending the Epidemic Task Force was established in support of New York State''s three-point plan to decrease new HIV infection to 750 per year by 2020. The Task Force provided expert advice to the AIDS Institute on implementation and monitoring strategies, focusing on New York State's highly successful existing HIV prevention and care efforts to identify undiagnosed persons; link and retain infected individuals in care; and utilize biomedical interventions such as pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent infections among high-risk individuals, while addressing stigma and discrimination to reduce associated health disparities.
The Task Force was made up of key stakeholders representing public and private industry, and community leaders who are expert in the field of HIV/AIDS. The Task Force was responsible for developing and issuing an executive plan for New York State to achieve the stated goals of:
- Identifying persons with HIV who remain undiagnosed and linking them to health care;
- Linking and retaining persons diagnosed with HIV to health care and getting them on anti-HIV therapy to maximize HIV virus suppression so they remain healthy and prevent further transmission; and
- Facilitating access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for high-risk persons to keep them HIV negative.
