A group of 19 HIV organizations from across the country launched a coalition titled Act Now: End AIDS. Dázon Dixon Diallo of SisterLove in Atlanta and Charles King of Housing Works in New York City announced its formation during a press conference at the United States Conference on AIDS (#2016USCA), taking place in Hollywood, Florida, through September 18.

“We have come together, in all our diversities, because we believe an end to the AIDS epidemic in the United States is within our reach. It is imperative that we share our resources and experiences and support with each other in order to make this a reality for everyone,” said Dixon Diallo in an Act Now press release. Dixon Diallo and King are cochairs of Act Now.

The coalition, according to the press release, “will help work together to provide technical assistance to individuals and organizations nationwide who are doing work on the city, state, and regional level to address the specific needs of their communities in terms of policy, budget, outreach, and education. The ACT Now coalition will also help facilitate relationships with health departments to share the data necessary to set and achieve benchmarks to ending the epidemic.”

On Saturday, September 17, at USCA, the coalition will conduct an all-day fishbowl-style learning collaborative in which advocates who have been working in jurisdictions with “ending AIDS” campaigns will share best practices and goals.

“In New York State we have made tremendous strides, setting the goal of ending the AIDS epidemic in New York by 2020. We want to build on that momentum, facilitating partnerships and offering technical support for other advocates throughout the country to do the same in their own jurisdictions,” King explained in the press release.

Watch the Act Now press conference from USCA, posted on POZ’s Facebook page:

Act Now members include:

  • Treatment Action Group
  • Housing Works
  • National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS
  • Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC)
  • New York AIDS Institute
  • AIDS United
  • Black AIDS Institute
  • 30 for 30
  • NASTAD
  • AIDS Alabama
  • Latino Commission on AIDS
  • San Francisco AIDS Foundation
  • NMAC
  • Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative
  • AIDS Foundation of Chicago
  • Southern AIDS Coalition
  • AIDS Free Pittsburgh
  • SisterLove
  • Getting to Zero Massachusetts
  • END AIDS Dallas
  • Legacy Community Health