Prompt Bioethics

White Paper

Revitalizing Community Engagement in the Public Health Use of Molecular HIV Epidemiology

This white paper proposes a framework for renewed community engagement in public health strategies that employ HIV-related data collected during clinical care. The positions presented here stem from stakeholder consultations in the form of qualitative interviews and townhall meetings conducted between 2021 and 2022 with community and public health stakeholders in North Carolina.

We provide context for this framework by presenting an overview of the National HIV Surveillance System and Molecular HIV Epidemiology (MHE), summarizing concerns expressed by some advocacy groups and other stakeholders, and proposing guidance points based on our stakeholder consultation process to strengthen community engagement strategies and potentially inform future public health policy.