About FOCUSTM
Through the FOCUS program, we partner with healthcare organizations to advance systems transformation and apply implementation science approaches that strengthen routine screening, diagnosis, and linkage to care for HIV, hepatitis C (HCV), and hepatitis B (HBV) in the US, Spain and Portugal. FOCUS supports partner learning and the sharing of best practices to improve screening programs, expand linkage to HIV prevention services, and identify and link people living with HIV who are out of care, particularly in underserved communities experiencing 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, HCV, HBV) 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, HCV, HBV) 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
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.FOCUS in Florida: Ending Multiple Public Health Epidemics with Public-Private Partnerships
The Florida Department of Health has adopted a syndemic approach to HIV and HCV in collaboration with FOCUS. State leaders are incorporating the FOCUS model to help end these public health epidemics and included objectives to scale and sustain the FOCUS model in public health planning to help the hardest hit areas of the state.
Hospital and state leaders speak at a Tampa General Hospital press conference.
FOCUS Partner Summit
The biennial FOCUS Partner Summit gathers partners, nationally recognized researchers, clinicians, government officials, public health leaders and Gilead leaders across the U.S. 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.
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 serve communities. Many published best practices and institutional policy changes have emerged through the work of FOCUS partners. They've had over 1,850 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 225 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including three articles in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).