World AIDS Day Summit at NC Executive Mansion
NC makes history with first World AIDS Day Summit at Executive Mansion
The Office of Public Engagement in the Office of Governor Roy Cooper hosted a summit entitled, “NC Beyond HIV,” at the Executive Mansion for World AIDS Day. The event was co-organized by 2BeatHIV, the Office of the First Lady of North Carolina, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Disease.
Opening remarks were given by Mr. Collins, Director of the Office of Public Engagement, who quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: "We must work passionately and indefatigably to bridge the gulf between our scientific progress and our moral progress.”
The multisectoral collaboration generated a unique opportunity to design a program that focused on promoting health equity and integrated a diverse group of HIV prevention and treatment practitioners, community advocates, people living with HIV, researchers, artists and entrepreneurs.
In her remarks on the vision for the World AIDS Day summit, Dr. Allison Mathews (2BeatHIV) stressed that “it is important for us to leverage existing resources available in the state. North Carolina is a global leader in HIV clinical research, home to the Research Triangle Park, and a burgeoning destination for start-up companies and tech giants like Apple. Yet, Durham County is 9th in the country for AIDS-related deaths and many of North Carolina’s rural counties suffer from a severe lack of resources to adequately address the HIV epidemic.”
Further, rural health panelist, Cordain Dancy of Wilson One Medical Center (OIC) stressed the need for more “funding, more access to public transportation, and most of all, education in Wilson, North Carolina to stop this epidemic. We need the youth to help us."
In agreement, local Durham artist Randy Rogers, also known as Freedom Clay, spoke about the need to be forward thinking: “We need to respect the works of the past, but embrace the creative innovations of the next generation of researchers and professionals in HIV prevention and treatment.”
Other notable speakers included Dr. Myron Cohen, Director of the UNC Institute of Global Health & Infectious Disease, who discussed the advances and contributions of clinical research to develop new tools for HIV prevention and care, such as vaccines and the development of long-acting injectables for anti-retroviral treatment.
IIina Ewen, Chief of Staff for the Office of the First Lady, encouraged attendees to remember that "prevention is the best way to reduce the burden of an epidemic." Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a daily pill that is effective at preventing HIV. Lastly, Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, urged the importance of Medicaid expansion to improve health care access and the needs of people living with HIV in North Carolina. In response to these urges by Mrs. Ewen and Secretary Cohen, the tech start-up company, Digital LinCS, underlined the potential for their online platform to streamline the process of helping uninsured people to get access to programs that help them pay for expensive HIV prevention and treatment medications.
Special acknowledgements go to the dedicated volunteers including Rashard Conrad who served as the event's official Volunteer Coordinator; members of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated; Hailey Mason, Brittany Wiafe, Samantha Farley, Desiree Williams, Jessica Gailes; and event photographers Dare Kumolu-Johnson, Alexandria Anderson, and Jason Wolonick.
