HIV Prevention Arkansas Department of Health

HIV Prevention

The primary goal of the HIV Prevention Program is to implement a comprehensive HIV prevention program in order to prevent new HIV infections and support viral suppression among persons living with HIV. Our primary objectives are to:

Increase individual knowledge of HIV status
Prevent new infections among HIV-negative persons
Reduce transmission from persons living with HIV
Support sustained viral suppression.

Priority activities include (but are not limited to) HIV testing and education, condom distribution, linkage/referral to HIV care, support achieving viral suppression, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) related activities, and community-level HIV prevention activities.

Arkansas HIV Planning Group

The Arkansas HIV Planning Group (AHPG) is a collaborative entity and partner with the Arkansas Department of Health's Infectious Disease Branch. The mission of the group is to provide an engagement process to inform, develop, or update the Health Department’s Jurisdictional HIV prevention plan and to guide/enlighten the efforts of individuals or organizations in the HIV arena. AHPG strives to provide HIV education, prevention, testing, treatment, or linkage to care. As a collective body, AHPG will identify precedence in HIV prevention needs based on priority target populations. Such populations should be approached through "high impact" prevention modes that ensure that HIV prevention resources are directed to these populations culminating in efficient and focused outcomes.

For more information about AHPG, please call 501-661-2408.

Community Connectors

The Community Connector Project is an initiative developed by the Arkansas Department of Health’s HIV Prevention Program to address the gaps in preventative HIV services and outreach for Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in Arkansas.

The goal is to provide support services that would advance HIV testing while identifying linkage-to-care gaps and resources. This innovative approach gives individual contractors the ability to access HIV prevention funding.

Applicants can apply in the following categories: HIV Testing, Linkage-to-Care, Prevention with Positives, HIV Prevention Education and Awareness, and Community Mobilization Projects (i.e., House Communities, Faith Based Communities, MSM related Social Fraternities/Sororities, Gay/Straight Alliances [GSA]).

Priority populations are MSM (men who have sex with men), Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Transgender (LGBT) individuals. Other terms that may be inclusive of the above-mentioned populations will be considered.

For more information about the Community Connectors’ program, please call (501) 661-2762.

Counseling and Testing