Gilead: More than Medicine
Gilead Sciences initiative breaks down health equity barriers in triple-negative breast/chest cancer diagnosis & treatment for Black women
Although the initial diagnosis is both challenging & devastating, many patients will survive & thrive, joining the other over four million breast/chest cancer survivors
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/11/gilead-breast-cancer-oct-2023.jpg)
By Edwina Eyre | WASHINGTON – Breast/chest cancer is the most common cancer among women, and a staggering 297,000 women in the U.S. are predicted to receive a breast/chest cancer diagnosis in 2023.
Although the initial diagnosis is both challenging and devastating, many patients will survive and thrive, joining the other over four million breast/chest cancer survivors in the United States. However, for women with triple-negative breast/chest cancer (TNBC) – particularly Black women – this landscape looks markedly different.
TNBC stands out as the most aggressive form of breast/chest cancer, offering limited treatment options and often spreading throughout the entire body by the time of diagnosis. Catching and treating the cancer early is critical, a task that’s made more daunting as TNBC is predominantly diagnosed in younger and premenopausal women.
Amidst these already formidable odds, Black women face even greater disparities for this cancer, and are three times more likely than white women to receive a TNBC diagnosis with significantly higher mortality rates than other racial and ethnic groups. Even further, Black women are more likely to be diagnosed with TNBC at a later stage, which complicates the prospect of a successful treatment.
The factors contributing to these inequities are rarely included in conversations around breast/chest cancer health outcomes. Research suggests that these disparities are caused by the impact of lived experiences of structural racism on the body, while others point to genetics. However, most analyses agree that structural healthcare barriers impede Black women from accessing adequate testing, treatment and care.
To expand conversations around TNBC and its impact on Black women, Gilead Sciences launched the Toward Health Equity for Black People Impacted by TNBC grant program in 2021 to help advance Black health equity across the cancer care continuum. Since its launch, Gilead has awarded $5.7 million to 21 organizations focused on supporting Black women and building capacity of Black-led breast/chest cancer organizations across the United States.
One of these organizations is SHARE Cancer Support, a national non-profit providing free resources, education and support to those diagnosed with breast/chest, ovarian, uterine and cervical cancer. To increase public knowledge around TNBC and Black women, SHARE recently hosted a series of focus groups analyzing the diagnosis and treatment experiences of Black women living with TNBC to help identify resources that dismantle existing barriers to care. SHARE hired two Black researchers to lead the study: Dr. Tisha Felder, Associate Professor at the College of Nursing at the University of South Carolina and Dr. Lucy Ingram, Professor and Department Head in the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia.
“Before anybody is even diagnosed, existing inequalities filter what experience any patient is going to have, especially for Black people in this country,” says Dr. Felder. “Providers need to be more educated about TNBC in Black women, and we need to make sure we are tailoring care to the needs of the people who are experiencing the issues.”
To understand the nuances of a TNBC diagnosis experience for Black women, Dr. Ingram and Dr. Felder spoke with 20 Black women to get a better understanding of their TNBC journey. The results were eye-opening: most of the women they spoke with had never heard of TNBC before their diagnosis. Furthermore, there were several instances where healthcare providers dismissed symptoms, despite some patients having a family history of cancer.
Typically, research findings like these remain confined to academic papers, but SHARE Program Director Megan-Claire Chase, who is also a breast cancer survivor herself, quickly spearheaded the creation of a TNBC info card and video series based on Dr. Ingram and Dr. Felder’s findings.
“What’s great about our partnership is that we aren’t waiting for the work to trickle down to those that need it,” said Dr. Felder. “SHARE is taking the findings we have right now and using them immediately. They’ve developed materials tailored specifically to Black women, ensuring that people benefit from this work sooner rather than later.”
Gilead’s support for SHARE goes beyond the funding of this project. “It’s unprecedented for a funder to be as engaged in connecting grantees as Gilead has been. It truly reflects that advancing health equity must be a collaborative effort,” Chase adds. “We all bring unique skills to the table, ensuring that we keep these women alive and empower the general public and Black community to ask questions and advocate for themselves.”
SHARE’s work with Dr. Felder and Dr. Ingram has laid a strong foundation, filling critical gaps and informing material development. “Having this research available validates the Black experience,” said Chase. “It’s proof that we’re not just being overly sensitive—it’s a fact that we’re often dismissed, a huge obstacle in trying to be heard and understood. It’s a call to action and education. These women aren’t just patients dealing with Triple Negative—they’re Black women. That extra layer of identity brings a whole set of unique challenges during treatment, making a real impact on their experience with diagnosis and care.”
Gilead: More than Medicine is part of a paid year-long collaboration between Gilead Sciences and the Los Angeles Blade
Gilead: More than Medicine
Gilead announces new phase in partnership with Elton John AIDS Foundation
Effort to address barriers to HIV care, treatment in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/07/LAB_RADIAN4869.jpg)
This month, Gilead announced the next phase of its partnership with the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) through RADIAN®, a program aimed at addressing HIV rates in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA). The extended partnership will continue meeting the evolving needs of the most vulnerable key populations in the region, including people who use drugs, men who have sex with men, sex workers and Transgender individuals.
RADIAN works directly with grassroots organizations and partners in EECA to address HIV-related challenges in the region. Since its launch in 2019, RADIAN has reached over 271,000 people with HIV services, reinitiated or initiated over 26,500 people on antiretroviral therapy, trained more than 14,000 frontline workers to reduce stigma and discrimination and provided more than 114,000 HIV tests.
Although the program has spurred concrete progress, EECA is still in crisis – it is one of the few regions in the world where the HIV epidemic is getting worse, with new HIV diagnoses and AIDS-related deaths increasing by 20% and 34%, respectively, since 2010. The conflict in Ukraine has caused mass displacement, and the disruption of healthcare services, an increase in anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation, stigma and discrimination are greatly hindering the HIV response.
To address remaining barriers to care and treatment, Gilead is doubling down on its commitment to tackle HIV in the region through the next phase of RADIAN. Over the next five years, Gilead will commit $25 million to further support collaborative, community-based action to help end the HIV epidemic in EECA.
During this next phase of the partnership, RADIAN will expand its geographic reach to support key populations, particularly migrants and refugees, affected by and fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, launch an “innovation fund” to increase the effectiveness of the HIV response in EECA by supporting emerging innovations on a rolling basis, replicate and disseminate successful models and projects from the ‘Model Cities’ program to help close gaps in HIV prevention, testing and treatment and continue to address structural drivers of the epidemic to strengthen HIV health systems and build the capacities of local organizations.
Gilead: More than Medicine
Gilead’s HIV Age Positively® grant program spotlights unique needs of individuals aging with HIV
On September 18, healthcare providers, advocacy organizations, and communities across the country will commemorate National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/09/individuals-aging-with-HIV.jpg)
By Edwina Eyre | WASHINGTON – While HIV was once considered a death sentence, major medical breakthroughs coupled with advancements in HIV prevention education and stigma reduction have transformed the virus from a once-fatal disease to a chronic condition that can allow individuals to live long and healthy lives.
Today, more than half of the adults living with HIV in the U.S. are over 50 years old. By 2030, that number will jump to 70% – a number that was unimaginable 30 years ago. While this transformation is a tremendous step forward, it has ushered in its own set of challenges when supporting this new, aging population that has distinct care and treatment needs.
On September 18, healthcare providers, advocacy organizations, and communities across the country will commemorate National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day (NHAAD) to raise awareness of the impact of HIV/AIDS on older Americans, and the urgent need to expand testing, treatment and care services for individuals over 50.
By 2030, more than 80% of people living with HIV will have at least one age-related medical condition, such as cancer or heart disease. Individuals living with HIV may also contend with various comorbidities that intersect with their diagnoses, such as diabetes, liver disease, anemia and high blood pressure. They may also face a different set of psychological and mental struggles than their peers.
However, few dedicated resources exist to address the diverse needs of the growing population of older individuals living with HIV. “HIV services and aging services have historically been very siloed,” says Prescott Chow, Director and Co-Principal Investigator for the Training and Health Equity (T.H.E.) Collaborative at the University of California, San Francisco. “While there have been some touchpoints, there have also been a lot of missed opportunities in terms of figuring out how to develop services that are inclusive of folks who are aging with HIV.”
The lack of attention and funding for the rapidly increasing population of individuals over 50 living with HIV prompted Gilead Sciences to launch HIV Age Positively® in 2018, an initiative aimed at supporting programs focused on improving the quality of life and health for those who are aging. Since its launch, the program has awarded more than $35.8 million in grants to support 42 organizations — from healthcare organizations to advocacy groups working to address the interrelated challenges within the healthcare system and the general HIV community — addressing stigma, loneliness and better coordination of care.
HIV Age Positively centers on three pillars: (1) improving care coordination, (2) increasing resources for better well-being and (3) educating and informing policy related to aging with HIV. Grantees work to provide resources such as mental health services and community support and make sure people aging with HIV receive the care they need by training and educating healthcare professionals with additional literacy around HIV and comorbidities.
T.H.E. Collaborative, an HIV Age Positively grantee, provides capacity building, technical assistance and training services to other grantees across a 13 state region in the Western U.S. In addition to HIV Age Positively grantees, T.H.E. Collaborative frequently works with other HIV advocacy programs in the Western U.S., providing a platform for peer-to-peer support and training.
“We are currently in this new era in aging, where we are really looking at the whole person and focusing on intergenerational and intercommunal care,” remarks JB Del Rosario, the Care and Wellbeing Center Project Manager at T.H.E. Collaborative. “So much of this work is about paying it back, but also paying it forward – recognizing the work that people who have come before us have done, but also passing on that effort to the coming generation as well and taking the lessons that we’ve learned to create a better world and a better system.”
One of the ways T.H.E. Collaborative is centering intercommunal HIV and aging care is through their Collaboration in Care Conference. On September 18 and 19, an interdisciplinary network of more than 200 providers from both the aging and HIV space will come together in Sacramento, California, to share best practices from their work and different resources available in their fields. Participants will cover topics as varied as financial health, mental health, community building and the psychosocial aspects of aging with HIV.
Del Rosario and Chow were thrilled to have T.H.E. Collaborative’s work, including the Collaboration in Care Conference, supported by Gilead through HIV Age Positively and emphasized the need for continued focus on wraparound care to address the health needs of those aging with HIV.
“It feels like a gift right now to think about how to look at HIV differently,” says Chow. “Where we are now is amazing in terms of the biomedical interventions we have available to help people aging with HIV have healthy long lives, but with that comes the responsibility to consider the other issues that impact a person’s life and to ensure that individuals are not just surviving but thriving as they age with HIV.”
Gilead: More than Medicine is part of a paid year-long collaboration between Gilead Sciences and the Los Angeles Blade
Gilead: More than Medicine
Inaugural #ZeroHIVStigmaDay leaders urge us to see one another as human
Zero HIV Stigma Day was chosen to honor Prudence Nobantu Mabele, the first South African woman to disclose her HIV status in 1992
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/07/Jose-Zuniga.jpg)
By Donovan Harris | WASHINGTON – There is something powerful about embracing our shared humanity.
For leaders and activists in HIV care and prevention, that is the message they are working hard to spread in the fight against HIV-related stigma.
“I’m stunned that some of the same stigma that we experienced in the early days of the epidemic continues to persist and are so pervasive across society,” said José Zuniga, president/CEO of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC).
Zuniga was open about his experiences as a Gay, Latino man, sharing that he is no stranger to the deep-rooted stigma millions of others in the LGBTQ+ community experience.
“I clearly understand the stigma that comes with people judging us based on our sexual orientation,” he said. “There’s a self-stigma, the self-labeling and the [fear] of feeling unworthy or being othered.”
Zuniga expressed that he is disheartened that HIV-related stigma extends to some healthcare settings, causing many people to delay essential, life-saving care. “It only takes one person within the healthcare system to stigmatize you before you hesitate to do what should be done to mitigate your risk, either becoming HIV positive or progressing to AIDS if you’re newly diagnosed with HIV,” he said.
According to UNAIDS, people living with HIV who perceive high levels of HIV-related stigma are 2.4 times more likely to delay enrollment in care until they are very ill.
However, there has been progress globally to reduce stigma and provide greater access to HIV care. In a recent UNAIDS report, researchers found there is a clear path to ending AIDS by 2030. Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe have already achieved the “95-95-95” targets.
The goal is for 95% of all people living with HIV to know their HIV status, 95% of people diagnosed with HIV infection to receive antiretroviral treatment and 95% of people who are being treated are virally suppressed by 2025.
While we have seen notable strides over the years, Zuniga said more work must be done to reduce HIV-related stigma globally.
That is why he is proud of the work done to launch the inaugural Zero HIV Stigma Day on July 21, 2023. The day was chosen to honor Prudence Nobantu Mabele, the first South African woman to disclose her HIV status in 1992.
“There was no awareness day singularly focused on stigma,” Zuniga said. “There certainly is one [day] around discrimination, but discrimination is really an outcome of stigma.”
Zero HIV Stigma Day was announced in 2022 as a collaboration between the IAPAC, a UK-based sexual health charity called NAZ, the Global HIV Collaborative and the Fast-Track Cities Institute.
Gilead Sciences also stepped in to amplify the important work Zuniga and his team are doing to end stigma on Zero HIV Stigma Day and throughout the year.
Through a grant from Gilead, Zuniga said his organization was able to implement one of the first medical education programs for primary care providers around “Undetectable=Untransmittable” which means a person cannot pass HIV through sex when they have undetectable levels of HIV.
He also said the pharmaceutical company was an early supporter of the Fast-Track Cities Institute and has helped reduce HIV-related stigma by providing resources and education through their COMPASS Initiative®, a 10 year, more than $100 million commitment to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic across the U.S. South.
“This is serious work and not something that any entity takes lightly,” Zuniga said.
This year’s Zero HIV Stigma Day theme is “Human First” to emphasize the humanity of people living with and affected by HIV.
“Pushing this human first message to us is critical because of course, the H in HIV stands for human,” Zuniga said. “I think we can repair the very frayed level of connectivity between us because we share a common humanity.”
Gilead: More than Medicine is part of a paid year-long collaboration between Gilead Sciences and the Los Angeles Blade
Gilead: More than Medicine
The new mission to fight HIV devastation in rural America
Black, Latino, Native American, and other minority groups residing in rural regions have higher than average rates of HIV
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/06/Open-Arms-Mobile-Testing-Clinic.jpg)
RIDGELAND, MS – Twenty years ago, Mississippi-based Dr. June Gipson was contacted by researchers who were conducting a study of Black men living with HIV over the age of 45 in Mississippi. They wanted a list of subjects with whom to talk. It should have been an easy assignment.
It wasn’t. There weren’t enough people to talk to. Vast numbers of Black men living with HIV in the state had died.
Decades later, thanks to missions like Dr. Gipson’s, improved medicines, and more knowledgeable wellness, that is no longer the case. There is a growing population who are living and aging with HIV.
“Essentially what My Brother’s Keeper does is training: we teach others what we do, we teach others how to sustain. We teach others how to work within the environment to be successful, “ Dr. Gipson told me.
Today, people living with HIV routinely live into their 50s, 60s, and beyond, but they still have needs that extend beyond the HIV challenges themselves. Especially in rural areas, there is isolation, stigma and poor mental health environments. Dr. Gipson leads an organization to give them resources and a deeper sense of wellness than they have ever imagined.
Dr. Gipson is the President and CEO of My Brother’s Keeper in Ridgeland, Mississippi. My Brother’s Keeper has expanded its service range into the clinical arena with the establishment of Mississippi’s first LGBTI primary healthcare clinic, Open Arms Healthcare Center. With a background that spans criminal justice and education in addition to healthcare, Dr. Gipson is a formidable leader and evangelist in creating effective and available healthcare in rural and marginalized communities. Her organizations not only provide services to such communities, they teach other organizations how to do the same. With a new grant from Gilead’s Zeroing In™ program — which aims to support organizations working to increase the overall health and wellness of communities most impacted by the HIV epidemic — they have been tapped to provide technical assistance and capacity building to other organizations.
Dr. Gipson’s advice to other organizations following the My Brothers Keeper/Open Arms model? “Just do it. When someone goes into the healthcare arena as a community-based organization, there’s a level of fear but… you’re going to have to just do it. You’re not going to have all the answers in the beginning. You will learn things along the way, but you do have to get started,” she says.
My Brothers Keeper and the Open Arms Healthcare center work synergistically to provide services to the community with an emphasis on the particular needs of LGBTQ individuals. “We have a wonderful avenue to not just do the work, not just teach others how to do the work, but to combine these things into real life lessons. We are the epitome of what community-based programs can become.” Dr. Gipson is in a constant state of continuous improvement. She is embarking on research with organizations in London and Australia to perfect best practices to reach out in underserved communities.
She acknowledges that such communities, especially the one she has served in Mississippi, are difficult to reach because accurate healthcare education is actively discouraged. “I think that the fact that we lack so much education around reproductive health and sex ed puts us at a complete disadvantage. The system is still talking about abstinence, which is not effective. We’re still bringing up abstinence when we have some of the highest HIV rates and some of the highest STI rates.”
Gilead is determined to make a difference. “We go where the need is greatest,” is a phrase they use frequently.
In this case, that “where” is in rural areas in the United States. These communities face disproportionate challenges in accessing HIV and other healthcare services caused by a shortage of local doctors, poverty, and remote locations. The patient-to- primary care physician ratio in rural areas is only 39.8 physicians per 100,000 people, compared to 53.3 physicians per 100,000 in urban areas. Additionally, 59% of the decline in the number of US community hospitals between 2015 and 2019 were rural hospitals and 47% of rural hospitals have 25 or fewer staffed beds. Seven states have a disproportionately high number of HIV diagnoses in rural areas: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Carolina. In the U.S. South, 23% of new HIV cases happened in rural areas, and for late-stage diagnosis, the percentage for Black people was higher than in urban or metropolitan areas.
That was consistent with the fact that Black, Latino, Native American, and other minority groups residing in rural regions have higher than average rates of HIV.
In March, Gilead Sciences announced $3 million in grant funding to eight organizations through the Zeroing In grant program, including My Brother’s Keeper, to provide services to communities disproportionately impacted by HIV in rural areas in the United States. Darwin Thompson, Director of Public Affairs at Gilead Sciences stated at the announcement, “Our Zeroing In rural grants are helping organizations expand their testing programs, provide remote communities with access to necessary resources and fight ongoing stigma by promoting a culture of compassion and inclusion. We know it takes more than medicine to end the HIV epidemic for everyone everywhere. By supporting these organizations, we’re increasing their capacity to educate communities, change perceptions and provide critical access to healthcare where it’s needed most.”
Dr. Gipson and other leaders were selected for investment due to their strategic, community-driven approaches toward dismantling systemic barriers that prevent people in rural communities from accessing quality HIV testing and treatment.
“The funding from Gilead was a gamechanger. What Gilead gave us was the needed startup funds to be able to do this work. I remember opening my clinic. I remember, it was literally $8,000 that was separating me from opening. There were expenses for exam beds, cotton balls. Band-Aids – simple things that should not impede someone from starting a new business, but those were the pieces that held me back,” Dr. Gipson says of the Zeroing In project.
The project is designed to bring healthcare equity and stop HIV devastation in all venues. While HIV is prevalent in both urban and rural communities in the United States, resources are heavily concentrated in urban centers, and lack of public health infrastructure and heightened stigma in rural communities create barriers of access to necessary care.
As Dr. Gipson points out, Gilead and Zeroing In are dedicated to changing the game. My Brother’s Keeper and its sister grantees are literally keeping their fingers on the pulse of people living with HIV with dedication and determination.
Gilead is equally determined to see them succeed with wellness and health for all.
Gilead: More than Medicine is part of a paid year-long collaboration between Gilead Sciences and the Los Angeles Blade
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