On Oct. 7, 2024, AIDS United and the AIDSWatch Planning Partners – the U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus and the Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation – brought together 200 participants for the fifth annual Fall AIDSWatch event. Participants heard from community members and experts provide updates on the HIV policy landscape and recent advocacy developments, including an in-depth overview of the upcoming Congressional and Presidential elections and the impact they will have on our communities.
The session opened with AIDS United’s Drew Gibson, Director of Advocacy, and Christina Adeleke, Senior Policy Manager for Community Mobilization and Health Equity, discussing the current political landscape and giving a 2024 election overview which highlighted several different scenarios HIV advocates might face based on who which political party gains control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives. During the webinar, attendees compared the presidential candidates’ positions and statements on priorities ranging from general HIV policy and LGBTQ+ rights to expanding healthcare and addressing the overdose epidemic.
Ronald Johnson and Malcolm Reid, representing the planning partners from the U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus, gave an overview of possible election impacts on the HIV community, discussing issues like abortion, reproductive rights, criminal justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, immigration, and federal funding for programs that benefit people living with and affected by HIV. Maryanne Tomazic and Elizabeth Kaplan, representing the Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, discussed the various healthcare policies and priorities and spoke on the impact the elections will have on appointing judges and the pending Supreme Court cases, respectively.
Following this, staff of the Positive Women’s Network (PWN) — Keiva Lei K. Cadena, Stephanie Knupsky, Kenya Moussa, and Samm Pheiffer — shared with the attendees’ actions they can take in preparation for the election, such as volunteering with PWN for voter engagement activities.
Fall AIDSWatch closed with Sattie Nyachwaya, AIDS United’s State Policy Manager discussing further actions attendees can take. Nyachwaya shared an opportunity to lead state level advocacy efforts through AIDSWatch@Home, naming the eight states and organizations leading efforts this cycle at statehouses around the country. Lastly, attendees were directed to AIDS United Election Center, which includes a HIV Get Out the Vote Communications toolkit.
Fall AIDSWatch is precursor to the larger, in person gathering set for March 16-18 of 2025, where various workshops will teach you how to refine these skills and bring them to Capitol Hill. Interested in attending for an in-person experience? Registration, scholarship applications and abstract applications are now open for the 32nd annual AIDSWatch.
A recording of Fall AIDSWatch can be viewed here.
