Syringe Exchange Programs
To combat growing concern over HIV and Hepatitis C outbreaks, Kentucky law allows county health departments to provide syringe exchange programs. These programs have proven effective in reducing the spread of infections without increasing drug use. 

Data to Care
Data to Care (DTC or D2C) is a public health strategy that uses HIV surveillance data to identify People Living with HIV (PLWH) who are not in care and link to re-engage them in care. DTC also supports PLWH along the HIV care continuum. DTC is promoted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and implemented by a number of health departments across the US.

PrEP is a way for people not currently infected but at very high risk of getting HIV to prevent HIV infection by taking a pill every day. The drug Truvada contains two medicines used in combination with other medicines to treat HIV. When someone is exposed to HIV, these medicines can help prevent infection.

People with HIV should take medicine to treat HIV as soon as possible. Taken as prescribed, HIV medicine reduces the HIV viral load in the body to a very low level, which keeps the immune system working and prevents illness. HIV medicine can even make the viral load so low a test can’t detect it. This is called an undetectable viral load. 

HIV/AIDS Continuing Education
This program is responsible for providing training on HIV testing and counseling and on linkage-to-care for those testing positive. 

The Kentucky HIV/AIDS Planning and Advisory Council is responsible for planning priority interventions for target populations across the state, advising the Cabinet for Health and Family Services regarding HIV/AIDS activity in the commonwealth and providing guidance to the Title II Services Program. Much effort is made to assure the membership of KHPAC reflects the epidemic in our state with representation from all targeted populations.

Ending the HIV Epidemic

Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America is a 10-year initiative beginning in FY 2020 to reduce new HIV infections to fewer than 3,000 per year by 2030. Reducing new infections to this level would mean HIV transmissions are rare and meet the definition of ending the epidemic. The initiative will focus efforts in 48 counties, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and seven states with substantial rural HIV burden.

Please see the Ending the HIV Epidemic Strategic Plan for Kentucky, Ending the HIV Epidemic Situational Analysis for Kentucky  and the Kentucky Epidemiological Profile Snapshot.

HIV/AIDS and African Americans

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a health crisis for black in the US. From HIV infection to death with AIDS, blacks are disproportionately affected,  accounting for 13 percent of the US population, but 43 percent of new HIV cases. See the fact sheet HIV and African Americans (CDC)

Ryan White and State-Funded Programs

Please visit our HIV/AIDS Services Program page for additional information about:

Kentucky AIDS Drug Assistance Program 

This program helps low-income, eligible Kentuckians with the purchase of AIDS-related medications. Eligible applicants receive formulary medications through mail-order pharmacy service provided by the Kentucky Clinic Pharmacy in Lexington. For complete information, call toll free (866) 510-0005.

Kentucky Health Insurance Continuation Program

This program provides payment for continuation of health insurance benefits for eligible individuals at risk of losing their employment-related or private-pay health insurance because of HIV disease.

Kentucky Outpatient Health Care and Support Services programs 

Provide assistance for eligible individuals with a wide range of community-based medical and non-medical support services, such as, physical and mental health care, housing, nutrition and transportation services. From the list of eligible services, priority services are identified during each funding period, based on such factors as client and care coordinator input, needs assessment survey results, resource inventories, client satisfaction surveys and funding limitations.

For additional information, please visit our HIV/AIDS Services Program page.