July Action Report

Action from the Coalition

• Welcome New Director Mario Harper! We are so pleased to welcome Mario Harper to the Health Action Alliance to lead U.S. Business Action to End HIV, working closely with Caroline and the broader HAA team. Mario comes to the coalition from one of our member companies, Molecular Testing Labs, and was inspired to bring his 10+ years of business development and impact experience to this initiative. You can read more about Mario below, and he is excited to work with each and every one of you!‍
• Welcome New Coalition Members! AleraCare

Action from Members

• National HIV Testing Day Round-Up: Kudos to coalition members who led by example this National HIV Testing Day, educating your workforces about HIV, increasing access to HIV testing, and using your unique expertise and resources to support local communities. Take a look at this impressive list of how coalition companies took action on June 27.

HIV in the News

• House Proposes Bill that Would Gut U.S. HIV Budget - Last Thursday, the House Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee released its proposed FY2024 spending bill, which included $767 million in spending cuts to domestic HIV programs. The cuts include, but are not limited to, ending all funding for the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative, a historic effort to end HIV begun by former President Trump that has been continued by the Biden Administration. (Read more about specific program funding cuts).‍
• Why This Matters:
  • ‍For the last 30 years, efforts to end the HIV epidemic have found support among Republicans and Democrats alike.
  • By eliminating funding and programs that reach the most impacted populations, we will roll back decades of progress. HIV and AIDS will once again become a crisis in communities across the country.
  • With limited public funding for support services, the efforts of the private sector and philanthropy will be undermined. They can not shoulder this burden alone.
  • The proposed cuts would devastate our national public health infrastructure, HIV workforce, and also make it harder for individuals to access HIV treatment medication, prevention services like PrEP, and it will make communities more vulnerable to HIV outbreaks.‍
• What Your Company Can Do:
  • ‍For those companies with government affairs teams and lobbying firms, explore opportunities to connect and build allyship in the Senate. Let them know that ending HIV in the U.S. is something your company is committed to. Add the importance of sustained HIV funding to your talking points.
  • Engage in outreach and education with representatives who may not understand the implications of HIV/AIDS funding cuts in their home communities. Leveraging state and local media will be key.
  • Join upcoming efforts, such as sign-on letters, to add the power of your voice in this conversation. We will share those opportunities as they arise.‍
• What Happens Next:
  • ‍Potential for full committee mark-up of bill by end of July. The Senate is expected to have Labor-HHS subcommittee mark-up on July 27.
  • We will share more resources and information as it becomes available.‍
• More Information:
  • ‍Public Statements from AIDS United, NASTAD, and NMAC.
  • The AIDSVu EHE Tool is a source of good data to inform and localize your messaging/advocacy.‍
• Two More Hopeful News Stories from Washington Last Week:
  • ‍The House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee passed its FY2024 spending bill and proposed $505 million, an increase of $6 million, for the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) program. This funding aligns with the amount requested by the Biden administration and demonstrates a commitment to providing safe and stable housing for individuals affected by HIV/AIDS.
  • The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has put forth a proposal that would extend Medicare coverage to encompass all forms of PrEP, including daily pills and long-acting injectables, as well as the related doctor visits and screenings, such as tests for HIV and hepatitis. The new proposal by CMS is a significant step to ensure Medicare beneficiaries, those 65 and older and younger adults with long-term disabilities, who want to protect themselves against HIV by using PrEP can do so without cost sharing. A final decision is expected in October, according to a press release from the HIV+Hep Policy Institute.

Coalition in the News

• Walmart Opens 70 More HIV-Focused Pharmacies, POZ.com (July 7)

Action Spotlight

This month we are pleased to introduce you to our new coalition leader:

Mario Harper
‍Director, U.S. Business Action to End HIV HIV Lead, Health Action Alliance

Mario most recently served as the Director of Enterprise Business Development Molecular Testing Labs. Prior to that, he served as a 340B Healthcare Senior Account Executive for Avita Pharmacy, where he worked with nearly 40 Ryan White and STI clinics providing consultative program support aimed at reducing gaps in access to healthcare, ending the AIDS epidemic, empowering sexual wellness & educating underserved populations who are most at risk for HIV and STI transmission. He also brings experience in Business Development & Marketing from time as a Senior Account Executive at LinkedIn and nine years in Medical Device Sales.

Mario attended The Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (IPEC) and recently became a Certified Professional Coach and completed his undergraduate studies in Communications at LSU.

Mario enjoys traveling abroad, live music and spending time with his partner, Jonah, and their 1-year-old Boxer, Nola.

How do you hope to see U.S. Business Action to End HIV and coalition members contributing toward ending HIV in the U.S.?

To me, success for this coalition includes:

• Fostering community among coalition members to be a think tank for progress and to be a conduit for the private sector to multiply the force of the efforts that our public health and community-based organization champions have long been exerting to eliminate HIV in America.
• Employers creating psychological health within their workplaces, ensuring all employees feel empowered through access to educational resources, comprehensive health benefits, and linkage to care. A clear goal would be to increase awareness and help facilitate access to PrEP, HIV testing and uptake.
• Creating environments at work where employees can thrive, not simply co-exist, in a stigma-free environment; an environment in which they are celebrated for the impact they make on company objectives and culture.

Bringing our coalition business partners together through this effort raises the water level of our respective industries and allows for more visibility for our stakeholders. That visibility can be used to advance efforts, jointly and independently, and allow our members to be viewed as compassionate leaders in our communities and attractive places to work, which should help solidify our business infrastructure.  

Why have you personally decided to dedicate yourself to working on HIV?

I feel called to do this work. There are a number of intersections that converge to create the passion I have surrounding HIV.

As a young, gay African-American man living in rural Louisiana, I lacked the education and resources needed to make the proper decisions for my well-being. I was fortunate to have a mentor who has dedicated his life to this work who took me under his wing and advised me on what community resources were available to me to keep me healthy. My motto is "each one, teach one." So as I've learned, it has been important to me to teach and to have those whom I have taught pay it forward, as well.

As the youngest of 14 children, I lost both my parents at young ages due to complex health conditions. I watched my parents suffer due to their ingrained mistrust of our medical system as African-American Baby Boomers. Much of this mistrust manifests itself still today amongst demographics and communities I belong to and is a limiting force in prevention and treatment of HIV. I have witnessed firsthand the impacts that HIV has had, and does have on my friends, colleagues, and countless others worldwide. It has long been my purpose to do my part to ensure that what can be done will be done to eradicate this solvable problem. I've also chosen to dedicate myself to this work because I am uniquely positioned to help save lives from this disease and it’s imperative that I answer that call.

Save The Date

• NGLCC International Business and Leadership Conference (Denver)
  • August 15-18 - Let us know if you will be there!
• US Conference on HIV/AIDS (DC)
  • September 5-8 - Let us know if you will be there!
• Quarterly Coalition Convenings (Virtual)
  • Wednesday, September 20, 2pm ET/11am PT
  • Wednesday, November 15, 2pm ET/11am PT

Thank you for your commitment and leadership. Let's keep up the momentum!