Positive Women’s Network-USA released a set of five recommendations for the next National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). According to a PWN-USA press release, the five items will help ensure better care for women living with the virus, particularly women of color and transgender women.

The recommendations are aimed at the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP), which is working on an update of the NHAS.

“Because of high rates of unmet need for sexual and reproductive healthcare services among women with HIV,” the PWN-USA press release reads, “the standards must include comprehensive, culturally competent, and non-stigmatizing sexual and reproductive healthcare for women of all ages, including transgender women.”

The PWN-USA document that includes the recommendations further states that “the next NHAS must address the unique needs of women living with HIV and must include priorities that extend beyond the HIV care continuum.”

PWN-USA recommends that the next NHAS:

  • Meaningfully involve networks of people living with HIV

  • Expand gender-responsive HIV services to holistically address women’s needs and improve health outcomes of women with HIV

  • Expand access to care and improve quality of care for black women living with HIV

  • Increase access to culturally relevant prevention and care for transgender women

  • HIV prevention methods must prioritize women and be responsive to their unique needs