WASHINGTON – The US Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) received a new director on Friday.
Francisco Ruiz is the first Latino person to helm the office according to the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy. He has worked as an HIV/AIDS policy expert at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since 2013.
The federal government is currently in the midst of a funding push to end the HIV epidemic. The National Institutes of Health issued $26 million in research awards in late 2023 in an effort to reduce new HIV infections by 90% by 2030.
One consideration for federal experts has been increasing public awareness of HIV prevention measures.
The CDC’s recommendations for Americans who should consider seeking a Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) prescription can be found here.
“PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99% when taken as prescribed,” the CDC’s website states.
According to the Washington State Department of Health, about 14,000 people in Washington are living with HIV.
