Sustaining the HIV response: In conversation with Ambassador Nkengasong

This episode of HIV unmuted features an intimate conversation with Ambassador-at-Large Dr John N Nkengasong, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Senior Bureau Official for Global Health Security and Diplomacy (GHSD). Our host,
Juan Michael Porter II, takes listeners through John N Nkengasong’s remarkable journey from his early days as a virologist to his current role leading the State Department’s Bureau of GHSD, which oversees the global implementation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). 

John N Nkengasong offers profound insights into the ongoing global HIV response, stressing the importance of community leadership in sustaining the progress made over the years. He addresses the challenges of maintaining this momentum in the face of changing global health priorities and funding landscapes. Despite significant advancements in treatment and prevention, John N Nkengasong underscores that ending the HIV pandemic will require addressing persistent inequalities and engaging communities around the world.  

John N Nkengasong also highlights the potential of lenacapavir for HIV prevention, which, as of December 2024, is part of a coordinated effort by PEPFAR, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation and the Gates Foundation to expand access to innovative treatments. Learn more about this initiative here. 

Meet our guest: 

John N Nkengasong is an Ambassador-at-Large and serves as the U.S. Department of State’s U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Senior Bureau Official for Global Health Security and Diplomacy (GHSD). He oversees the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy, which serves as the department’s coordinating body for work on strengthening global health security to prevent, detect and respond to infectious diseases, including HIV and AIDS. The department also elevates and integrates global health security as a core component of U.S. national security and foreign policy. GHSD is home to the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which the Ambassador also oversees. PEPFAR is the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history and has prevented millions of HIV acquisitions, saved more than 25 million lives, and changed the course of the HIV pandemic.

Meet our host: 

Juan Michael Porter II is a health journalist, HIV advocate, culture critic, educator and the host of HIV unmuted, the IAS podcast. He is the Senior Editor of TheBody.com and TheBodyPro – and the first person openly living with HIV to hold the position. Juan Michael's reporting combines data dives, personal narratives and policy analyses to address the real-world consequences of ever-shifting legislation on people's health outcomes. He has written for the Public Broadcasting Service, SF Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer, Christian Science Monitor, NY Observer, TDF Stages, Playbill, American Theatre, Time Out NY, Queerty, Anti-Racism Daily, Positively Aware, Documentary Magazine, SYFY Wire, Scholastic and Dance Magazine.