2025 Annual Meeting

NASTAD's 2025 Annual Meeting theme was Not Stopping Now: Navigating the Road Ahead through Data and Community. The meeting addressed the challenges and opportunities health departments are currently facing in administering HIV and hepatitis programs. There were many opportunities during the meeting for meaningful exchange among peers, partners, and federal agency representatives on issues of importance to programs.

The full agenda is available as a PDF. Sessions that have slides available for download are listed below.

Grassroots Advocacy Training

This session will provide health department staff with tools to effectively educate partners about HIV, viral hepatitis, harm reduction, and related public health initiatives. By focusing on strengthening advocacy, policy development, and community engagement, participants will explore strategies to communicate key messages, highlight program impact, and foster meaningful partnerships with decision-makers.

Designed as an interactive experience, the session will provide opportunities for participants to share insights, discuss successful engagement efforts, and collaborate on new strategies to expand advocacy and education efforts.

Speakers: 

• Speaker: Ann Lefert, Ann Lefert Group

Breakout Session: Realizing the Denver Principles in HIV Service Delivery

The Sero Project has initiated the development of a measurement tool to provide ongoing, quantifiable input to HIV provider organizations. The objective is to improve healthcare outcomes by providing information to service providers (including clinical services, pharmacies, government agencies, retail businesses, and others) that will enable them to use client feedback to incrementally move their organizations toward a more empowerment-focused service delivery paradigm. This provider empowerment rating tool (the “Denver Principles Rating”), inspired by the 1983 iconic Denver Principles, as well as MIPA/GIPA, is under development with support of the State of Rhode Island and the Positive People Community, an online HIV support community that enhances the lived experience of PLHIV by providing a robust and secure digital environment for social support, stigma reduction, and empowerment.

Speakers: 

• Speaker: Martha Cameron, International Community of Women Living with HIV North America (ICWNA)
• Speaker: Sean Strub, Sero Project

Breakout Session: State-Level Policy Strategies for Implementing Pharmacist-Initiated PrEP and Protecting Access to Preventive Care Under the Affordable Care Act

This workshop will engage participants in an interactive, in-depth analysis of legislative, regulatory, and administrative policies that shape the provision of HIV prevention services in community pharmacies. The session will emphasize the critical role of health departments in implementing pharmacist-initiated PrEP – showcasing how they navigate policy landscapes, support program development, and address barriers to care. Through a combination of case study exploration and practical policy analysis, the session will highlight state-level examples to illuminate the challenges and opportunities in establishing pharmacist-initiated PrEP and PEP services. Participants will also examine the potential impacts of an unfavorable Braidwood Management, Inc. v. Kennedy ruling from the Supreme Court –examining state-level policy protections to preventive care and exploring how the loss of no-cost preventive service coverage would affect access to critical HIV prevention services and medications.

Speakers: 

• Speaker: Aliyah Ali, Courage Forward Strategies
• Speaker: Darnell Barrington, NACCHO
• Speaker: Grace Lee Parr, NASTAD

Breakout Session: Overdose Prevention Centers and Harm Reduction: Leveraging Data to Drive Policy and Expand Services

Overdose Prevention Centers (OPC) have proven to be a critical component in harm reduction strategies, reducing overdose deaths, providing safer environments for people who use drugs, and linking individuals to healthcare and social services. However, the establishment and expansion of these sites require strong evidence to demonstrate their effectiveness and support public and policy acceptance. This session will focus on how data from harm reduction programs, including Overdose Prevention Center’s, can be used to advocate for their expansion, drive policy change, and improve services for people who use drugs. A panel of experts from health departments, community organizations, and data analysts will share insights on how data is being utilized to support these programs and discuss how to overcome barriers to data collection, interpretation, and usage.

Speakers: 

• Speaker: Thomas Bertrand, Rhode Island
• Speaker: Kate Dunn, Charm City Care Connection
• Speaker: Zachary Kosinski, Behavioral Health System Baltimore (BHSB)