AIDS 2060 Ep 01 - Lessons from the Frontlines: San Francisco

This is the first episode of AIDS 2060, a special multimedia mini-series of podcasts and Substack articles devoted to understanding what is needed to bring the HIV epidemic under control, how long that will take, and why the world has been unable to do so to date, notwithstanding overly ambitious public commitments that questionably are not rooted in science and hide the real threat HIV poses, even today.

We are in San Francisco, one of the first epicenters of the epidemic, and meet the City’s Community Health Center which is on the frontline of providing comprehensive care and prevention services to the hardest to reach populations, people of color, the trans community, people who inject drugs, the homeless and people with mental health issues. Ending the HIV epidemic will not be achieved, let alone by an arbitrary date like 2060, unless human rights and evidence-based programs reach and are used by these people. Does a progressive city like San Francisco have the political will to do what the science tells us works?

Host Ben Plumley is joined by Lance Toma (CEO), Dan O’Neill (Chief Medical Officer), and Dr. Tatyana Moaton (Chief Strategy & Workforce Officer).

00:00 Welcome to AIDS 2060

00:38 Why the Response Stalled

02:05 Picking 2060 as the Lens

03:01 San Francisco Frontlines

03:39 Targets and Reality Check

04:16 Meet the Health Center Team

05:35 Will AIDS 2030 Happen

07:46 Local Progress and Setbacks

10:52 Who the Clinic Serves

14:12 Trans Communities as Canary

18:15 Surveillance Data Under Attack

22:15 Leading Through Funding Chaos

26:53 Long Acting Injectables in Practice

28:47 Prep Access Gaps and Equity

30:14 Street Medicine and Viral Suppression

32:50 Worrying About Innovation Stalls

33:16 HIV Pipeline Reality Check

33:54 Long Acting Drug Revolution

35:10 New Classes And Regimen Design

36:02 Once Yearly Prevention Vision

37:09 Equity Over Innovation

37:52 Whole Person Care Infrastructure

40:31 Radical Roots And Community Power

42:58 Hard Reboot In Crisis

46:25 Coalitions Beyond HIV

49:43 Data Visibility And Erasure

53:55 Global Community Connections

55:32 2060 Hopes And Closing

Check Out Ben’s Substack:

https://substack.com/@benplumley1

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