A Decade of the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention's Epidemiologic and Economic...

In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expanded capacity to conduct infectious disease and economic modeling through the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention Epidemiologic and Economic Modeling Agreement (NEEMA). NEEMA brought together CDC scientists, academic partners, and public health practitioners at state and local levels to use epidemiologic and economic modeling to support the understanding of the efficiency, outcomes, cost-effectiveness, return on investment, and impact of programs and policies related to the center's disease foci, priority populations, and settings. In collaboration with state and local health departments, NEEMA activities included the development of tools to aid forecasting and decision-making. This article summarizes the scientific contributions and lessons learned from the NEEMA collaboration. During 2014-2024, NEEMA produced 136 peer-reviewed studies and 8 decision support tools. These studies have been cited 2697 times in peer-reviewed literature and referenced more than 70 times in policy documents. NEEMA has expanded the knowledge base on effective and cost-effective high-impact interventions for HIV, viral hepatitis, STD, and tuberculosis programs and continues to be responsive to changing needs for evidence to inform decision-making and policy.