Deadly Parallels: HIV/AIDS Funders Bring Hard-Learned Lessons to the Opioid Crisis

*This article was originally published in Inside Philanthropy.

If you think of a Venn diagram mapping two crises—the HIV/AIDS epidemic and opioid use—there would be a significant amount of overlap. They are analogous, in many ways: in terms of scope; the ways in which society has responded—or, more aptly, not responded—to them; and the populations most affected. The good news is that there is much we have learned from the past 30 years fighting HIV/AIDS that can be applied to the opioid crisis. And philanthropic funders are well positioned to be an important part of the solution.

In many ways, funders have gotten ahead of elected officials on this issue. Our community is already making a difference and leading by example. Recently, Funders Concerned About AIDS hosted a convening focused entirely on the intersection of HIV and opioids. The discussion highlighted key challenges and identified ways to expand on effective activities already taking place.

Read the full article about this discussion here.