Office of Minority Health

Thirty years ago—December 1, 1988—marked the first observance of World AIDS Day. HIV.gov has been bringing you World AIDS Day messages and digital communication resources for 12 of those years, since we launched as AIDS.gov on December 1, 2006.

Today we continue that tradition by offering you some resources to help you plan your digital communication for World AIDS Day 2018.

This week ADM Brett Giroir, MD, Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, announced the process the Department will use to develop the next editions of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) and the National Viral Hepatitis Action Plan (NVHAP), both of which expire in 2020.  

Can a 90-minute program once a week and some tutoring sessions make a big difference in the success of early-adolescent reservation kids? A pilot program on the Menominee tribe’s reservation say the answer is yes.

The program called the Menominee Youth Empowerment Program (MYEP) was based in 2012 at the College of Menominee Nation (CMN) in Keshena, Wisconsin. CMN is an accredited tribal college located in an economically depressed rural area just west of Green Bay. It enrolls a few hundred students in academic degree and technical programs.

A basic principle of effective communication is to know the audience.¹ This principle is especially important for patient-provider interactions that involve risk and diagnostic information, preventive measures, and instructions on medication regimens. But a message said is not necessarily a message understood. A patient’s understanding requires an ability to deal with written and spoken word and a grasp of basic math skills and concepts.² It requires a health literate patient.

The FY2019 grant forecast from the HHS Office of Minority Health anticipates up to 7 grant awards totaling $3 million for hepatitis B elimination partnerships.

The reason #WhyIFightFlu? It saves lives.

Americans experienced one of the most severe flu seasons in four decades last year with flu activity remaining high well into March 2018. Millions of Americans became sick with the flu, an estimated 900,000 were hospitalized, and 80,000 died from flu and its complications.

Fifteen years ago, the nation observed the first annual National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD). Since then, we’ve seen significant progress in the national and global response to HIV. This progress holds great promise for reducing new HIV infections and improving health outcomes for Latinos and all people living with HIV across the United States.

Despite numerous health advances in recent years, there is still an urgent need for increased minority representation in medical research. The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Research Program has made a commitment to diversity, especially to those who have been excluded from medical research for years.

The Assistant Secretary for Health ADM Brett P. Giroir sat down with Surgeon General RADM Jerome M. Adams to discuss sickle cell disease and HHS efforts to help patients and the quest to bring the disease to an end.

As the national discussion to promote emotional well-being and effectively treat mental illness accelerates, so does our understanding of the most effective ways to do so. At the same time, almost one in five Americans is experiencing a diagnosable mental illness according to the National Survey of Drug Use and Health 2016. And nearly one-quarter of these individuals has a serious mental illness that interferes with their everyday living.

June is Men’s Health Month. On average, men die five years younger  than women, and die at higher rates from nine of the top 10 causes of death. Men are also less likely than women to be insured. All of this impacts their ability to be involved fathers, supportive partners, and engaged community members.

On Saturday, May 19th, 2018, the HIV community marks National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. This observance highlights the impact of HIV and AIDS on the diverse members of this community. The 2018 campaign slogan is “Love & Solidarity: Together PrEP, Testing and Treatment can end HIV.” The Banyan Tree Project    and the San Francisco Community Health Center (formerly API Wellness Center) lead this national health observance.

Medical research hasn’t always fully represented our nation’s rich diversity. As the video above shows, NIH’s All of Us Research Program is committed to doing things differently by enrolling individuals of many different races, ethnicities, and walks of life.

HHS’s Corinna Dan describes advances and opportunities to combat the hepatitis B and hepatitis C epidemics in the United States.

HHS’s Corinna Dan discusses how she frames the growing problem of viral hepatitis in the U.S. and why we are losing ground in the fight to combat it.

Each year, the National Public Health Week, organized by the American Public Health Association, is a time to recognize the contributions of public health and highlight issues that are important to improving our nation's health. This week is an opportunity to raise awareness about public health and prevention.

I’m a relatively modest person. I don’t go in for cleavage, but I also don’t mind having a male doctor, and if you ask me a personal question, I’ll answer it. That’s why I was surprised recently for feeling embarrassed at telling my colleagues that I was taking the day off to get a colonoscopy.

At the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health (OMH) we put people and communities at the center of our work. We collaborate with national and local partners to encourage people to take charge of their health by adopting healthy habits and lifestyles. We are especially excited to support Univision’s Healthy Habits campaign, which aims to raise awareness among Latinos to achieve a healthier lifestyle by taking small steps that will have big benefits in their future.

We have seen tremendous improvements in HIV treatment and prevention over the past few decades. While we want to celebrate this progress, we also need to discuss how it can lead people to falsely believe that HIV is no longer a serious health issue. People across the country — including women — continue to get and transmit HIV regardless of age, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. In the United States

One of the boldest undertakings that NIH has ever attempted, the All of Us Research Program has been hard at work in a “beta” testing phase, and is now busy gearing up for full recruitment in the spring. This historic effort will enroll 1 million or more people in the United States to share information about their health, habits, and what it’s like where they live. This information will be part of a resource that scientists can use to accelerate research and improve health. How? By taking into account individual differences in lifestyle, environment, and biology, researchers will uncover paths toward realizing the full potential of precision medicine.

The observance of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday on January 15 is a time for us to reflect on the life and achievements of an extraordinary leader in American history.