FOCUS
About FOCUS
FOCUS advances healthcare systems transformation by supporting access to screening and linkage to comprehensive prevention services and linkage to care for HIV, hepatitis C (HCV) and hepatitis B (HBV). More than 1.1 million Americans currently live with HIVi, 2.4 million with HCVii and nearly 1 million with HBViii. These are deadly diseases, however, there are prevention strategies and options available.
Through FOCUS, we have partnered with hundreds of healthcare institutions over time to advance systems transformation and support FOCUS partner development and sharing of best practices for routine screenings, testing and diagnosis across HIV, HCV and HBV in accordance with public health guidelines in underserved communities to address health inequities.
In the U.S., the FOCUS program is a public health initiative that enables partners to develop and share best practices in routine blood-borne virus (HIV, hepatitis C, hepatitis B) screening, diagnosis and linkage to care in accordance with screening guidelines promulgated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), and state and local public health departments.
In Spain and Portugal, the FOCUS program is a public health initiative that enables partners to develop and share best practices in routine blood-borne virus (HIV, hepatitis C, hepatitis B) screening, diagnosis and linkage to care in accordance with screening guidelines promulgated by country guidelines and initiatives such as Fast-Track Cities.
FOCUS funding supports HIV, HCV, and HBV screening and linkage to a first appointment. FOCUS partners do not use FOCUS awards for activities beyond linkage to a first appointment.
FOCUS Impact
Since 2010, FOCUS has partnered with hospitals, community health centers, health departments, community-based organizations and others. FOCUS currently has partnerships in cities and counties across the U.S., Portugal and Spain. In 2021, FOCUS partners began integrating linkage to comprehensive prevention services into the routine testing infrastructure for eligible individuals.
Today, the FOCUS program continues to advance global public health best practices by helping partners approach their testing and linkage to care through a syndemic approach. FOCUS continues to work with stakeholders on building models of linkage to care and linkage to comprehensive prevention services through public-private partnerships.
FOCUS Partner Stories
FOCUS on Louisiana: Tackling Health Inequities Through Routine HIV and Viral Hepatitis Screening and Linkage to Care
Implementation of the FOCUS model by partners in Louisiana has helped to support routine HIV and HCV testing across the state for eligible individuals. Since 2019, there has been an 814% increase in routine HIV testing and a 2,000% increase in routine HCV tests statewide in Louisianaiv, while Baton Rouge saw late-stage HIV diagnoses cut in half over the two-year period following the initiation of FOCUS projects in the parishv.
FOCUS in Florida: Ending Multiple Public Health Epidemics with Public-Private Partnerships
The Florida State Department of Health has adopted a syndemic approach to HIV and HCV in collaboration with FOCUS. State leadership is incorporating the FOCUS model to help end the multiple public health epidemics and included objectives to scale and sustain the FOCUS model in its public health planning to help the hardest hit areas of the state.
Tampa General Hospital Press Conference Featuring Hospital and State Leadership
FOCUS Partner Summit
The biennial FOCUS Partner Summit gathers partners, nationally recognized researchers, clinicians, government officials, public health leaders and Gilead leaders across the United States to share best practices in HIV and viral hepatitis screening, diagnosis and linkage to care.
Through the Partner Summit, FOCUS is enabled to continue to improve health equity and help partners expand access to routine screening and linkage to care in accordance with public health guidelines for all.
An Evidence-Based Approach
FOCUS supports partners to develop and share best practices in blood-borne virus screening, diagnosis and linkage to care — improving public health systems and how they support populations. Many published best practices and institutional policy changes have emerged because of FOCUS partner work. FOCUS partners have had over 1,115 abstracts accepted to key conferences, such as the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), International AIDS Conference (IAS) and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases’ (AASLD) The Liver Meeting, and have published over 160 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including two articles in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
i U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.). About Ending the Epidemic in the U.S. HIV.gov. Retrieved September 5, 2023, from https://www.hiv.gov/federal-response/ending-the-hiv-epidemic/overview/
ii U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.). Viral Hepatitis in the United States: Data and Trends. HHS.gov. Retrieved September 5, 2023, from https://www.hhs.gov/hepatitis/learn-about-viral-hepatitis/data-and-trends/index.html
iii U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.). Viral Hepatitis in the United States: Data and Trends. HHS.gov. Retrieved September 5, 2023, from https://www.hhs.gov/hepatitis/learn-about-viral-hepatitis/data-and-trends/index.html
iv FOCUS Database, data collected by FOCUS partners September 2023.
v 2018 STD/HIV Surveillance Report, State of Louisiana, Department of Health, Office of Public Health. Page 115. Retrieved December 15, 2023 from https://ldh.la.gov/assets/oph/HIVSTD/2018_STDHIV_SurveillanceReport_Final.pdf.