USCA Black Treatment Advocates Network Preconference Takes Place in San Diego

Raniyah M. Copeland

On Oct. 1 the Black AIDS Institute held its Black Treatment Advocates Network (BTAN) preconference to the 2014 United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) in San Diego. Conducted by the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC), the USCA, which is in its 18th year, took place Oct. 2-5.

The Institute presented information about how cities can form BTAN chapters and how current BTAN cities can continue to engage communities and grow.

BTAN links Black PLWHA to care and treatment, strengthens local and national leadership to end the AIDS epidemic, raises HIV science and treatment literacy in Black communities, and advocates for policy change and research priorities beneficial to ending HIV/AIDS.

"The tools are there, but can we really end the AIDS epidemic in America?" asked Phill Wilson, the Institute's CEO and executive director, noting that in some cities the HIV infection rate among Black MSM is nearly 50 percent. "HIV happens in local communities, one person at a time," he said. "And the solution happens in local communities."

"Local people solve local problems," said John Curry, co-chair of the BTAN chapter in Melbourne, Fla.

BTAN cultivates and supports a national network of Black treatment advocates and educators.

"We are not going to end the epidemic until Blacks rise up to save Blacks," said Wilson. "The question is, when we do end the AIDS epidemic in America, who will be left behind? In history, all too often Blacks are left behind. If no one else cares about us, we must care for ourselves."

"We know that the HIV landscape is changing and is demanding HIV organizations to have a very different skill set," said Raniyah M. Copeland, director of programs at the Institute. "In the past, a lot of organizations and even federal-government agencies focused on behavior and prevention, but now the focus is on getting people's virus suppressed. The BTAN model is focused on disclosure, patient navigation, treatment education and advocacy."

Throughout the day, experts and authorities from around the nation presented detailed information about the program areas. The Kaiser Family Foundation, the Affordable Care Enrollment Target Center and communities of faith provided organizational support, while the BTAN chapter from Broward County, Fla., shared best practices.

For more details on how to connect with BTAN in your city or how your city can become a BTAN city, click here.

Gerald Garth is a Los Angeles-based writer, actor and accountant who works for the Black AIDS Institute.USCA Black Treatment Advocates Network Preconference Takes Place in San Diego