The Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions Inaugurates the HOPE Challenge Series on World AIDS Day

WASHINGTON D.C. [Nov. 13, 2023] –  On World AIDS Day, The Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions (HCHDS) will launch the Health Opportunities for Policy Equity (HOPE) Challenge initiative, with the first event of the series titled, "HIV and the Politics of Race: The Minority AIDS Initiative at 25," in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, NMAC, The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. The convenings will take place at the newly-opened Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center at 555 Pennsylvania Ave on Friday, Dec. 1 at 9 a.m.

Media registration link can be found here.

The event will host a panel and fireside chat delving into how policy solutions such as the Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) affect access to HIV/AIDS prevention and care in marginalized communities. The discussions will center on bridging health disparities in the United States. 

“By having these conversations with policy leaders and changemakers, we can begin working towards viable solutions that will bridge critical health gaps and offer better health outcomes to underserved communities,” said NMAC Executive Director Paul Kawata. “On World AIDS Day, NMAC urges community leaders and key stakeholders to recognize the importance of pursuing sound health policies like the Minority AIDS Initiative that target health disparities faced in underrepresented communities and improve HIV/AIDS prevention and care."

Despite significant advancements in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, marginalized communities, including Black Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and the LGBTQ community, continue to bear a disproportionate burden of new infections. Alarming statistics identified that: 

• While Black Americans make up nearly 13% of the U.S. population, they accounted for over 42% of HIV infection cases in 2019. 
• One-fifth of people diagnosed with HIV in the United States are Hispanic/Latino and a quarter of new HIV infections in the United States occur among Latinos. 
• Over half of people with HIV are men from the LGBTQ community. 

 WHEN:  

Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 at 9 a.m. 

WHERE:  

Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center at 555 Pennsylvania

555 Pennsylvania Ave, NW

Washington D.C.

WHO: 

Moderators:

• CNN Political Commentator Jamal Simmons
• Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, Visiting Scholar, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management

Keynote Speaker:

• US Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA 43rd District) 

Panelists:

• Darrel J Gaskin, PhD, MS,  Richardson Professor and Director at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Hopkins Center for Health Disparities 
• Alphonso David, Black Economic Forum CEO 
• Guillermo Chacón, President of the Latino Commission on AIDS and founder of the Hispanic Health Network 
• Jeffrey S. Crowley, MPH, Distinguished Scholar and the Program Director of the Infectious Diseases Initiative at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law and an adjunct professor of law
• Paul Akio Kawata, NMAC Executive Director
• Joe Huang-Racalto, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Policy, NMAC 
• Laurie Rubiner, Kelley, Drye & Warren, LLP Senior Government Relations Counsel 
• Robyn Neblett Fanfair, MD MPH (Captain, USPHS), Acting Division Director and Principal Deputy Director for the Division of HIV Prevention at the CDC

WHAT:  

9:15 a.m. Panel: HIV and the Politics of Race: The Minority AIDS Initiative at 25. 

Moderator: Maya Rockeymoore Cummings

10:30 a.m. Fireside Chat: The Legal Effort to Undermine Racial Equity in Health, Wealth, and Education  Moderator: Jamal Simmons, CNN

11:30 a.m. Keynote Speaker, Congresswoman Maxine Waters

WHY: 

The HOPE Challenge seeks to conduct results-oriented discussions with policy leaders on actions that can be put into motion to solve preventable health conditions in marginalized communities.