Taking Control of Our Health: National HIV Testing Day and Dallas’s New Strategic Roadmap to Equity

By State Representative Venton Jones, CEO Southern Black Policy and Advocacy Network 

On June 27, we will recognize National HIV Testing Day. National HIV Testing Day is more than a date on the calendar—it is a collective call to action, a moment for self-reflection, and a critical reminder of the work that remains to achieve true health equity in our communities. As both the State Representative for House District 100 and the Chief Executive Officer of the Southern Black Policy and Advocacy Network, I look at our public health landscape through a dual lens of policy and grassroots advocacy. 

Today, that lens reveals both a sobering reality and a profound opportunity: the finalization of the 2027-2031 North Texas Integrated HIV Prevention and Care Plan. 

This comprehensive five-year roadmap arrives at a pivotal moment. It provides our region with a coordinated, data-driven framework designed to reduce new infections, maximize viral suppression, and fundamentally dismantle the systemic disparities that have long plagued North Texas. 

To solve a problem, we must first confront it with absolute candor. The newly released epidemiologic data highlights an ongoing crisis of disparity within our Black neighborhoods:

• Disproportionate Diagnoses: Black and African American residents make up just 17.2% of the Dallas Eligible Metropolitan Area (EMA) population, yet they account for a staggering 42.9% of all new HIV diagnoses. 
• The Sero-Prevalence Burden: In 2024, Black individuals represented the largest share of people living with HIV (PLWH) in the region at 41.7%. 
• The Retention Gap: Getting into care is only the first step; staying in care is where our system falters. Retention in care across Dallas is lowest among Black individuals living with HIV at just 58%. 
• Unmet Needs for Black Women: Black women continue to face unique, overlapping structural barriers, making them a primary population of focus in this updated plan. 

These numbers are not just metrics; they represent our friends, neighbors, and family members. This disproportionate burden is deeply tied to historical inequities: a lack of Medicaid expansion in Texas, systemic medical mistrust, geographic isolation from care, and the heavy weight of social stigma. 

Turning Data into Strategy: Real Solutions for Black Dallas

The 2027-2031 Integrated Plan does not simply re-state these problems; it shifts the paradigm by introducing aggressive, community-centered solutions tailored to address the specific needs of Black communities: 

1. Meeting People Where They Are

We are moving away from expecting people to navigate intimidating health systems. The plan prioritizes micro-level targeting through tools like the Community Vulnerability Compass to send mobile testing, rapid syphilis screenings, and sexual health toolkits directly into historically underserved neighborhoods. Furthermore, community-based organizations are building trusted partnerships with local barbershops and corner stores—the very epicenters of our community fabric—to implement and achieve our goals.

2. Normalizing and De-Stigmatizing Care

To catch infections early, we must integrate testing into everyday healthcare. The plan expands routine, opt-out HIV testing across local emergency departments, urgent care clinics, and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). By removing the “opt-in” requirement, we strip away the stigma of asking for a test. Simultaneously, the plan calls for recruiting credible messengers—local leaders and community advocates—to lead peer-driven prevention education and build public trust. 

3. Implementing Same-Day Treatment (Rapid ART)

When someone tests positive, delay is the enemy of retention. Dallas is entering year one of a five-year Rapid ART Learning Collaborative. This initiative builds streamlined medical workflows to ensure individuals diagnosed in non-traditional settings—like county jails, public health clinics, or emergency rooms—are connected to life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART) on the very same day. 

4. Cutting the Red Tape

We know that administrative burdens drive people out of care. Through the implementation of E2Dallas, a universal eligibility platform, the jurisdiction is removing the headache of duplicative paperwork. Once an individual is in the system, their documentation flows seamlessly across Ryan White-funded agencies, allowing case managers to focus on healthcare rather than bureaucracy. 

5. Elevating Lived Experience

A healthcare system cannot effectively serve a community if that community is absent from leadership. The 2027-2031 blueprint mandates the hiring of individuals with lived experience to fill crucial roles as peer navigators, linkage specialists, and case managers. Representation ensures that care remains trauma-informed, culturally competent, and fiercely compassionate. 

“Ending the HIV epidemic in Dallas County requires us to look beyond biomedical interventions and fiercely address the social determinants of health—housing, transportation, mental health, and economic stability.” 

This National HIV Testing Day, I urge every resident of Dallas County to know their status. But more importantly, I call upon our civic leaders, healthcare networks, and community stakeholders to hold ourselves accountable to the goals laid out in this new roadmap. 

We have the data, we have the community brilliant minds, and now, we have a finalized roadmap. Together, let us turn this strategy into a reality, eliminate these persistent disparities, and build a healthier, more equitable North Texas for generations to come.