I hope you are having an enjoyable and productive summer.

This month, we introduce our new National Chlamydia Coalition as well as provide an update on our international antiretroviral treatment efforts.

We will also continue our efforts to engage partners and maximize global synergies. These public health efforts have made NCHHSTP’s programs more effective and successful domestically and internationally.

In closing, my thanks to everyone who supported the use of breakthrough technology to provide the clearest picture to date of new HIV infections in the United States. For more information, please visit the NCHHSTP Web site.

National Chlamydia Coalition

On June 5, 2008, representatives from more than 30 organizations gathered in Washington, D.C., to attend the inaugural meeting of the National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC). The NCC was established with the overarching mission of improving and protecting the health of sexually active adolescents and young adults by increasing screening rates for Chlamydia among young women. This important initiative addresses the continued high burden of Chlamydia infection among women.

For months, the Partnership for Prevention, a steering committee of eight founding organizations, worked with CDC’s Division of STD Prevention to solicit coalition participation from other national organizations interested in reproductive and sexual health. Furthermore, the partnership worked collaboratively to plan the initial NCC meeting.

NCC committees formed to address Public Education/Awareness, Provider Barriers/ Awareness, and Policy/Advocacy will meet regularly via conference calls and Webinars to identify priority activities. Also facilitating information sharing among NCC members is a new Web community developed by CDC’s National Prevention Information Network (NPIN). A second in-person NCC meeting is slated for November 19, 2008. CDC’s NCC Coordinator, Raul A. Romaguera, DMD, MPH, serves as liaison to the coalition.

BOTUSA Web page is now live.

The U.S. government announced in June that it is supporting life-saving antiretroviral treatment (ART) for approximately 1.73 million men, women, and children worldwide through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). This indicates a significant increase from the 50,000 people receiving treatment prior to the launch of PEPFAR in 2003. The rapid scale-up of ART is a significant achievement in the history of global health.

Through its vital partnerships with Ministries of Health, CDC staff supports countries to develop national clinical guidelines and scale-up of treatment services, renovate treatment sites, coordinate the antiretroviral supply chain, develop program evaluations and laboratory networks, and train health providers.

PEPFAR is on target to achieve its goal of supporting treatment for 2 million people. The overwhelming success of providing ART to those who need it clearly shows that this program should continue to be scaled up in Africa.