Enhancing national STD/HIV prevention efforts by promoting holistic, comprehensive, and evidence-informed health and wellness approaches through strategic partnerships

This FOA will provide support to the National Coaltion for Sexual Health (NCSH) (http://nationalcoalitionforsexualhealth.org/). The Coalition brings together national leadership in order to accelerate STD/HIV prevention by advancing a more holistic and integrated public health approach by focusing on health and wellness frameworks, including sexual health in the U.S. These efforts represent an attempt to supplement traditional, disease-specific prevention frameworks with one emphasizing the broader promotion of health and wellness, including sexual health. The NCSH aims to improve sexual health and well-being by encouraging productive and sustained conversations about sexual health and promoting high quality sexual health information and health services. In addition to STD/HIV prevention, adopting such a holistic health and wellness-based approach is pertinent to a number of public health priorities, including: prevention and control of viral hepatitis; improved reproductive health, including teen and unplanned pregnancy prevention; and prevention of sexual and intimate partner violence. The Coalition will continue to build a nationally-representative Coalition of members from a diverse range of entities important to enhancing STD/HIV prevention, as well as maintain, lead, organize and facilitate the established group of partners who currenlty make up the Coalition. The Coalition will continue implementation of programmatic and evaluation activities, communication activities including dissemination and promotion of Coalition products, maintain and update Coalition websites and continue to convene Coalition action groups in order to leverage the work of the Coalition to advance sexual health. Lastly, the Coalition will sustain the momentum achieved through Coalition activities to enhance STD/HIV prevention and improve sexual health at a national level. This program addresses the “Healthy People 2020” focus areas of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, HIV, and Public Health Infrastructure.