Project PEARL is an HIV leadership training program funded by San Diego County
The goal is to engage persons living with HIV infection in the community planning process. This includes having a role in priority setting and resource allocations, establishing service standards, and in efforts to ensure persons living with HIV receive high-quality services and to improve retention in care and viral suppression.

Getting to Zero -
San Diego County
Getting to Zero focuses on:
- Ensuring the wide availability of testing in community-based and health care settings;
- Providing access to treatment and supportive services that promote retention in care for all persons living with HIV;
- Preventing new infections through a combination of evidence-based interventions; and
- Engaging communities in developing strategies to improve health outcomes related to HIV.
Since implementation of the Getting to Zero Initiative, the County and its partners have made substantial progress in ending the epidemic. Between 2016 and 2019, the number of residents newly diagnosed with HIV decreased by 27%. Further, the proportion of persons living with HIV who have achieved viral suppression, a key outcome of efforts to link persons to care and help them remain in care over time, reached 92% at the end of 2019. Viral suppression ensures that persons living with HIV can live long, healthy lives free of the complications of HIV disease; additionally, individuals who are virally suppressed cannot transmit HIV sexually to others.
To sustain and build upon these early successes, Project PEARL was launched to to lead community engagement efforts, using a strengths-based Leadership Training curriculum model.
Live Well San Diego
The County’s Getting to Zero Initiative also supports the Live Well San Diego vision of Building Better Health, Living Safely, and Thriving. Live Well San Diego, developed by the County of San Diego, is a comprehensive, innovative regional vision that combines the efforts of partners inside and outside County government to help all residents be healthy, safe, and thriving. All HHSA partners and contractors, to the extent feasible, are expected to advance this vision. Building Better Health focuses on improving the health of residents and supporting healthy choices. Living Safely seeks to ensure residents are protected from crime and abuse, neighborhoods are safe, and communities are resilient to disasters and emergencies. Thriving focuses on promoting a region in which residents can enjoy the highest quality of life.
Information about Live Well San Diego can be found on the County’s website and a website dedicated to the vision:

Interest Registration Form
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Funding
This project is funded by The County of San Diego Health and Human Services HIV, STD, and Hepatitis Branch through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Ending the HIV Epidemic contract #565588 HIV Leadership Training Program.