Recorded presentation

Ruth B. Walkup, PhD, Office of International and Refugee Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rm 18-105, Rockville, MD 20857, 30-443-7243, RWalkup@osophs.dhhs.gov

It is a complex journey from idea to federal policy, to budget changes and programming, to projects, and finally better social services. Often this journey takes years and is the work of dozens if not hundreds of people. The history and trajectory of such a process are convoluted, difficult to follow and document.

However, in 1998, a conversation took place at the highest level of the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) which ultimately led to significant policy change less than a year later, additional funding for new programs, exploration of new partners, and ultimately better health services to an extremely needy and disadvantaged group of people: refugees with HIV and their families. This paper documents this particular series of events.

Before the change, refugees with HIV had to submit a document for their official resettlement files that stated that they would never become a financial burden to the American public as a result of their disease. The policy change explored in this paper involved DHHS top leadership accepting the responsibility of providing care for those individuals within the enormous breadth of the DHHS HIV care system. The result several years later is several hundred HIV+ refugees in state-of-the-art HIV/AIDS care, with longer futures of productive time with their families and in their new American communities.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this section will be able to

• Describe current Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) policy towards HIV+ refugees
• Explain the changes in policies for HIV+ refugee after 1998
• Assess the impact of DHHS policies on HIV+ refugees

Keywords: Refugees, HIV/AIDS

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation