In this episode of ZERO HOUR—filmed in front of a live studio audience at the 2023 U.S. Conference for HIV and AIDS—four Black women take over the discussion table to take back their own narratives and to define their own roles in ending the HIV epidemic.

Because to truly understand the impact that discrimination, inequity, and stigma have on Black women, we need to hear from Black women themselves.

Our takeover hosts are:

Staci Bush, Senior Director of US Medical Affairs for Gilead’s HIV Franchise. Bush is a patient-first activist within the pharmaceutical space who focuses on building partnerships across the globe to transform minds and center prevention as a main tactic to ending the HIV epidemic.

Deborah Wafer, Senior Director of Public Affairs and U.S. Virology Community Engagement and Advocacy at Gilead. A women’s health and public health advocate with more than three decades of experience, Wafer works to address HIV and expand health equity by forging partnerships with community advocates and organizations.

Our guests are:

Marlene McNeese, an HIV prevention advocate who has worked to optimize public health and community-based HIV support systems for nearly 30 years. She discusses the ways that Black women must navigate medical systems that were never meant to support them—thereby creating lasting and urgent disparities in HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Erica Criddenton, a student at the University of Washington Medical School who studies the internal and external impacts of HIV stigma around the globe. She shares her professional insights with ZERO HOUR—and delivers a moment of personal vulnerability that moves and inspires hosts and live audience members alike.

This podcast was created and fully funded by Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILEAD, the GILEAD logo, and the & design are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc. © 2023 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. IHQ-UNB-6218 Date of Preparation July 2024.

References:

Ayangeakaa, S.D., Kerr, J., Combs, R.M. et al. Sociocultural and structural influences on HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Engagement and Uptake among African American Young adults. BMC Public Health 23, 1427 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16273-8

DHHS. Panel on antiretroviral guidelines for adults and adolescents. Recommendations for the use of antiretroviral agents in adults and adolescents with HIV. Updated March 23, 2023. Available at: https://clinicalinfo.hiv.gov/sites/default/files/guidelines/documents/adult-adolescent-arv/guidelines-adult-adolescent-arv.pdf. Accessed July 20, 2023.

Hill, Mandy J. DrPH, MPH. (2023, June 11). Qualitative Analysis of a Warm Handoff Linkage Approach for Cisgender Black Women to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP): A Systems Focus. UTHealth Houston. https://www.iapac.org/files/2022/12/Mandy-Hill-1129.pdf

PACHA. PACHA provides advice, information, and recommendations to the Secretary regarding programs, policies, and research that address HIV/AIDS. Started June 14, 1995. https://www.hiv.gov/federal-response/pacha/about-pacha

Funakoshi, Minami, Raychaudhuri, Disha. (2023, August 19). The rise of anti-trans bills in the US. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-HEALTHCARE/TRANS-BILLS/zgvorreyapd/

Health inequities don’t just happen. They’re made by the broken parts of broken systems. And when those systems are left unfixed, the divide between the people with the most need and the people with the most resources grows even wider. In this episode, we’re joined by two guests who are championing system reform and person-centered care to overcome inequalities in the global response to HIV.

Our guests are:

Professor Kevin Fenton, the London Regional Director at the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and President of the United Kingdom Faculty of Public Health.

Dr. Oni Blackstock, an HIV researcher, physician, and founder of Health Justice, an organization helping health organizations achieve workplace equity and overcome health disparities.

This podcast was created and fully funded by Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILEAD, the GILEAD logo, and the & design are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc. © 2023 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. IHQ-UNB-4668 Date of Preparation September 2023.

References:

CDC. HIV in the Southern United States. September 2019. Accessed September 19, 2023. Available at: cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/policies/cdc-hiv-in-the-south-issue-brief.pdf

Fuller H, Dubbala K, Obiri D, et al. Addressing vaccine hesitancy to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 vaccination uptake across the UK and US. Front Public Health. 2021;9:789753. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.789753

GOV.UK. England on Track to End New HIV Transmissions by 2030. Accessed September 22 2023. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/england-on-track-to-end-new-hiv-transmissions-by-2030

HPTN096. Getting to Zero Among Black MSM in the American South: Testing the Efficacy of an Integrated Intervention Strategy. Accessed September 19, 2023. Available at: Getting to Zero Among Black MSM in the American South: Testing the Efficacy of an Integrated Intervention Strategy

Kaiser Family Foundation. Status of State Medicaid Expansion Decisions. Accessed September 19, 2023. Available at: https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map/

Malebranche DJ, Peterson JL, Fullilove RE, Stockhouse RW. Race and sexual identity: perceptions about medical culture and healthcare among black men who have sex with men. J Natl Med Assoc. 2004;96:97-107

National AIDS Trust. HIV in the UK Statistics. Accessed September 19, 2023. Available at: https://www.nat.org.uk/about-hiv/hiv-statistics

The path that ends AIDS: UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2023. Geneva: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS; 2023. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO

UK Office for National Statistics. Updating ethnic contrasts in deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19), England: 8 December 2020 to 1 December 2021. Accessed September 19, 2023. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/updatingethniccontrastsindeathsinvolvingthecoronaviruscovid19englandandwales/8december2020to1december2021

UK Office for National Statistics. Coronavirus and vaccine hesitancy, Great Britain: 9 August 2021. Accessed September 19, 2023. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandwellbeing/bulletins/coronavirusandvaccinehesitancygreatbritain/9august2021

Zang X, Krebs E, Mah C, et al. Can the 'Ending the HIV Epidemic' initiative transition the USA towards HIV/AIDS epidemic control? AIDS. 2020;34(15):2325-2328. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000002668

Sure, children are the future, but why shouldn’t they have a hand in the present? Today’s episode of Zero Hour introduces us to two HIV advocates—one an HBCU professional and the other a person born with HIV—who are centering education for youth and adolescents in their missions to end the epidemic.

Our guests are:

Leslie Hall, director of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program at the Human Rights Campaign. He shares his intersectional experiences as a Black queer man and discusses the significance of bringing HIV prevention and education to HBCUs.

Ashley Rose Murphy, a National Youth Ambassador for the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research and a global HIV speaker and rights advocate. She shares her triumphant story of outliving a six-month life expectancy after being born with AIDS and channeling her experiences into a life of activism.

This podcast was created and fully funded by Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILEAD, the GILEAD logo, and the & design are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc. © 2023 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. IHQ-UNB-4353 Date of Preparation August 2023.

References:

United Negro College Fund. The HBCU Effect®. Accessed August 3, 2023. Available at: https://uncf.org/pages/the-hbcu-effect