June 12, 2017 Dear Friend of TAG: I’m so proud to share with you Treatment Action Group’s 2016 Annual Report. As you will see, TAG’s passionately dedicated, deeply informed staff have been unstinting in their efforts to speed up research and high-quality prevention, treatment, and care programs for people living with HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), or tuberculosis (TB), and for those most at risk of acquiring these infections. Today, more than ever, TAG’s work is vital. We are living Ending the in an unprecedented political era. Every day brings a new outrage and gathering threats to our work promoting research, prevention, and treatment. Everything TAG has fought for over the past three decades to defeat HIV/AIDS and end the TB and HCV Epidemic epidemics is at risk. Our progress towards ending these epidemics with Progress in the Fight extremely effective new tools for prevention, treatment, and cures will be in vain if people don’t have comprehensive for Better Treatment, coverage to ensure access. TAG’s vital work needs your support now more than ever: a Vaccine, and a • TAG is leading community efforts to end AIDS as an 2016 epidemic in New York State by the close of 2020 by Cure for AIDS Annual strengthening HIV, STD, and sexual health programs for Report those most affected • TAG is expanding its Ending the Epidemic work to southern states where the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues at its worst • TAG is leading efforts to build on existing law and regulation to control drug costs • TAG is leading efforts to defend key National Institutes of Health AIDS research agencies and their budgets from brutal cuts proposed by the new administration • TAG is fighting efforts to greatly weaken the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and its ability to ensure that safe and effective new drugs are studied properly, available with expanded access when necessary, and approved quickly when evidence merits it I’m pleased to report that TAG’s strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency have earned it a 4-star rating for the second year in a row from Charity Navigator. Charity Navigator awards only the most fiscally responsible organizations a 4-star rating. We’re so grateful to you for your dedicated support of TAG’s work, and we ask that you continue to sustain that support for the struggles ahead. Yours truly, Barbara Hughes President, Board of Directors were able to secure a speaker at the Democratic National Convention— Daniel D. Driffin, a young, black, gay, Project Updates HIV-positive Ph.D. student and activist. TAG expanded our federal advocacy HIV Project standing commitment to accelerate the against tuberculosis (TB), particularly for development of novel treatment options TAG’s HIV Project spent the last year TB Research & Development (TB R&D) for people living with and vulnerable to advancing its research and policy spending. Senior Health Policy Officer HIV infection. A critical extension of this priorities against a backdrop of Suraj Madoori, who joined TAG in April work—essential for strategies to end significant shifts in the federal political 2016, collaborated extensively with TAG’s AIDS and sharply curtail HIV incidence— climate and continued to push activism TB/HIV team and partner organizations is an increase in project activities that and policy aimed at effectively ending to support and set an ambitious advocacy challenge outrageously high treatment HIV as an epidemic in the U.S. – and agenda and spending targets for TB R&D costs, particularly for HIV medications ultimately, around the world. Building in the U.S. and other donor countries. priced well beyond what the market on the community-driven initiative Suraj calculated the budget shortfall from can bear, and many public and private to end AIDS in New York State, TAG is years of underfunding TB R&D, and used insurers instituting cost-control measures laying the groundwork to support and this analysis to push for new advocacy for increasingly out of alignment with strengthen community partnerships in budget appropriations in Congress and evidence-based recommendations. three southern states to chart their own among global health partners, publishing epidemic-ending strategies. two policy briefs, entitled Breathing Life TAG’s work over the past year led to the U.S. and Global Health Policy into Flatlined U.S. Government Funding publication of Community Mobilization: TAG’s Washington D.C.-based policy and for Tuberculosis Research: FY 2017–2020 An Assessment of Mechanisms and advocacy staff spent 2016, which will go Allocations and Recommendations and Barriers at Community-Based and down in history as a watershed election Breakthrough: Catalyzing R&D to End AIDS Service Organizations in Nine U.S. year in American politics, fighting for TB. These briefs were used to educate Metropolitan Areas in January 2017, favorable research, treatment access, both domestic and global community which elucidates the mechanisms, and regulatory policy and funding, which advocates and organizations, funders, facilitators, and barriers of HIV are critical in the fight against HIV, TB, and policymakers such as the U.S. community mobilization in 10 high- and HCV. Congress and the Global TB Caucus. prevalence jurisdictions. The HIV In 2016, TAG’s policy staff were At the end of 2016, several political Project completed its two-year Advocacy instrumental in launching a coalition and policy shifts posed new challenges Education Initiative, a series of online dedicated to building a national for TAG’s ongoing advocacy work. educational materials, webinars, and framework to end the epidemic in Despite a two-year-long fight led by TAG capacity-building workshops designed to the U.S. We led efforts to include a and other activists, President Obama strengthen regional advocacy and policy community-driven HIV policy and signed the hotly contested 21st Century engagement regarding comprehensive research agenda in the HIV prevention service delivery needs, Presidential candidates’ including post-exposure prophylaxis election platforms. TAG (PEP) and pre-exposure prophylaxis worked with coalition (PrEP) scale up. TAG published in partners to craft policy the Journal of the International AIDS statements and participated Society its ground-breaking primary and in meetings with both secondary HIV prevention continuum the Clinton and Sanders model for the U.S. as a conceptual campaigns, bringing framework for local health departments national attention to to identify key steps in reducing HIV coalition efforts to end the incidence and improving health epidemic. In addition to outcomes among those vulnerable to, as pressuring the campaigns well as those living with, HIV infection. to outline specific policy Left to right, NYS Senator Brad Hoylman, Board Member Joy Episalla, In tandem with these efforts, the HIV commitments to support RIAA Honoree and TAG’s Board President Barbara Hughes, and Board Project continued to uphold its long- HIV/AIDS efforts, we Member David Sigal. 2 2016 ANNUAL REPORT Cures Act into law, which contains to community-based articles and provisions that weaken the U.S. Food open-access scientific papers on and Drug Administration’s (FDA) safety the subject. standards for future drugs and devices. Using TAG’s Cure Research Media TAG successfully launched Act Now: End Monitor webpage, we responded AIDS—a national coalition dedicated to to the widely circulated claim that a organizing local networks to develop and Nigerian researcher had developed implement plans to end HIV epidemics— a cure for HIV. The BSVC Project but our momentum was challenged by alerted the Nigerian National the unexpected election results. The Health Research Ethics Committee new administration has pushed a deluge of the Federal Ministry of Health of undermining proposals to end the about the claim, contributing to Affordable Care Act (ACA); drastically the initiation of an investigation cut federal spending for research at the into what appears to have been a National Institutes of Health (NIH); curtail profoundly unethical clinical trial Rosie Perez, 2016 RIAA Honoree. public health and global health programs that was conducted without the at the Centers for Disease Control and approval of Nigerian regulators. As part and treatment. TAG worked to build and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Agency of TAG’s ongoing work to improve the strengthen our hepatitis C coalition; for International Development (USAID); accuracy of media coverage of HIV cure share information about advances in and severely roll back the regulatory research, the BSVC Project contacted diagnostics and treatment with advocates; capabilities of the FDA. The Independent about a misleading document research and treatment Despite the challenges and new battles headline that stated that participants in access progress and barriers; advocate that lie ahead, TAG remains committed to a research study had become “HIV free”; for sound epidemiological, biomedical, resisting major losses in research, public the editors acknowledged the problem and implementation research; and health, health care, and global health and corrected the headline. use available information to promote infrastructure, protecting these programs Richard Jefferys collaborated with policies for universal access to affordable and expanding them through increased Deputy Executive Director of HIV HCV prevention, diagnostics, care, and collaborative and cutting-edge advocacy. and HCV Programs Tim Horn and treatment, as well as the removal of The focus of our