Abstract
In 2019, the U.S. government introduced the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) Initiative to achieve the goal of ending the epidemic by 2030. To accomplish EHE goals, public health efforts have focused on the needs of populations that experience a disproportionate HIV burden, such as Latino populations that represent over a third of those newly diagnosed with HIV. Partnering and Communicating Together (PACTo) is a federally funded health promotion initiative that addresses HIV inequities by building partnerships with and providing health education materials to institutions of higher education to promote sexual health and HIV awareness. From October 2021 to June 2025, we prioritized Latino youth and health care providers in jurisdictions with the highest HIV incidence in the United States, including Puerto Rico. As a result of the project’s implementation, over 9,000 Latino youth and health care providers have been engaged in HIV and sexual health promotion, thereby filling knowledge gaps and strengthening competencies for working with priority populations consistent with the EHE Initiative. Our approach successfully demonstrated the feasibility and efficacy of building networks to address HIV inequities in Latino populations by maximizing health promotion strategies. Partnerships with institutions of higher education are necessary to sustain efforts to end the HIV epidemic and advance health equity among young adults disproportionately affected by HIV. The current sociopolitical context also requires strengthening actions to advocate for the health and human rights of Latinos, migrants, sexual and gender minorities, and people affected by HIV.
In 2019, the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) Initiative was introduced by the government of the United States as a plan to end the epidemic by 2030, focusing on four main areas: (1) early diagnosis, (2) treatment and viral suppression, (3) prevention of new infections, and (4) rapid response to outbreaks (Fauci, 2019). HIV health promotion initiatives have proven to be effective in increasing HIV awareness, reducing HIV stigma, and promoting prevention behaviors, potentially reducing new infections in populations disproportionately affected by the epidemic (Ebrahimi et al., 2024; Faust & Yaya, 2018). To accomplish EHE goals, public health efforts must focus on addressing the needs of populations that experience a disproportionate HIV burden, such as Latino populations (Rodríguez-Díaz et al., 2021). By 2023, Latinos comprised 18% of the U.S. population, yet represented 34% of people newly diagnosed with HIV (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2025). Prevention efforts prioritizing Latino populations have shown improvement over the last decade. Nevertheless, progress in the decline of new HIV cases among Latinos has stalled, with a 27% increase in diagnoses between 2019 and 2023 (CDC, 2025). Among Latino populations, most new HIV diagnoses are reported among sexual and gender minorities and young adults. To contribute to the EHE goals, the Partnering and Communicating Together (PACTo) project uses health communication and health promotion strategies, in collaboration with community partners, to address HIV inequities among Latino populations.
Description of Innovation
PACTo is a 5-year health promotion initiative under the PACTo program, which incorporates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Let’s Stop HIV Together” campaign as a tool to deliver information and resources related to sexual health and HIV to Latino youth in institutions of higher education, particularly those located in jurisdictions with the highest HIV incidence in the United States, including counties/cities in California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Texas, and Washington, DC.
PACTo in Action
PACTo activities center around three main strategies: (1) networking with institutions of higher education and community organizations that serve Latino youth; (2) virtual and in-person sexual health promotion activities with Latino youth (ages 18–24 years) living in counties with high HIV incidence; and (3) workshops with health care providers serving Latino youth.
Networking activities seek to identify partners to implement activities with youth and health care providers. We have leveraged our existing collaborations with organizations. In addition, we have attended the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities’ (HACU) annual conference as exhibitors since 2022, to develop new partnerships with Hispanic-serving institutions of higher education across the United States.
Sexual health promotion events aim to engage Latino youth in conversations about HIV, specifically regarding testing, prevention, and treatment and addressing HIV stigma. Events also provide youth with health education and promotion materials with information for access or referrals for PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV prevention) care, at-home testing kits, condoms, and other disease awareness materials. These events might be in person (e.g., booth exhibits, presentations) or virtual (e.g., Instagram live, webinars). The participation goal for each event is 50 interactions for in-person events and 100 for virtual events.
PACTo has included in-person and virtual workshops for health care providers, aiming to support professionals in delivering culturally congruent and up-to-date HIV services to their Latino youth patients and increasing their awareness of HIV educational resources associated with CDC’s “Let’s Stop HIV Together” campaign. All PACTo activities have been facilitated by two bilingual health educators (English and Spanish), often in collaboration with college students who are peers of the prioritized population. For data collection on participation and interactions, we used a manual counting method and developed a log of recurring themes from the interactions, along with an internal needs assessment survey and debriefings with facilitators after the events.
Results
Since October 2021, in the first 4 years of implementation, we completed 70 sexual health promotion activities, 14 workshops for health care providers, and six networking events, totaling 90 events across 14 jurisdictions. In these events, we reached 66,248 individuals and interacted with 9,017 participants. Recurring themes discussed during the events included (1) information about PrEP and how to access it, (2) HIV self-testing, (3) the health of sexual and gender minorities, (4) HIV stigma, and (5) Mpox. In partnerships, we conducted direct outreach to Hispanic-serving institutions to propose collaborations, resulting in 52 agreements. The partnerships are increasing cross-community support among Hispanic-serving institutions, sexual health clinics, nonprofit, and community-based organizations that serve Latino populations to support HIV-related health education and communication efforts.
Analysis of our qualitative evaluation data revealed low HIV awareness among Latino youth, limited sexual health educational resources, and challenges accessing biomedical HIV prevention strategies like PrEP and PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis). Stigma toward HIV and sexual and gender minorities was also prevalent.
Discussion
As a result of the project’s implementation, thousands of Latino youth and health care providers have been engaged in HIV and sexual health promotion interventions. These efforts support increasing HIV knowledge among Latino populations most impacted by HIV; they also strengthen provider competencies for working with key populations. The implementation of PACTo has demonstrated promise in the success of building networks to address HIV inequities in Latino populations and the feasibility of guiding efforts toward the end of the HIV epidemic. Amid funding cuts for HIV prevention, treatment, and research, the success of this program demonstrates the importance of securing financial support for interventions that prioritize populations most impacted by HIV.
Implications for Practice
Projects like PACTo can be replicated in different academic and community contexts. The interventions must be culturally adapted for the populations they are intended for, with considerations such as language diversity, inclusive imagery, and nonstigmatizing messaging. For younger populations, it is essential to incorporate innovative health promotion strategies, such as using social media platforms (e.g., TikTok, Instagram) and leveraging art to convey public health messages. Finally, creating intersectoral partnerships has shown to be a successful strategy for reaching broader audiences and maximizing HIV prevention efforts (Rodríguez-Díaz et al., 2025).
Next Steps
Partnerships with health educators, health care providers, and community organizations are needed to continue the efforts to end the HIV epidemic and advance health equity. Changing sociopolitical contexts also require strengthening efforts to advocate for health, protect the rights and well-being of people disproportionally impacted by HIV, and advocate for the human rights of Latino, migrant, and sexual and gender minority populations.
Footnotes
Authors’ Note:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The work described in this manuscript was supported by the Partnering and Communicating Together Program from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (grant number 5NU62PS924671). We are grateful to the partners who collaborated in the implementation of this initiative.
