Welcome to this special issue on HIV Prevention Capacity Building for the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. Over time, capacity building and infrastructure development have increasingly become important topics in the arena of public health. Capacity building is a core public health function that contributes to the effectiveness and efficiency of HIV-prevention practice. Competent HIV-prevention programs are built by ensuring that the individuals, and the organizations and systems in which they work, are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, and technical expertise needed to conduct effective programs. When communities have strong HIV prevention and care services, the people who are at risk for or already infected with HIV have greater opportunities for appropriate health services.

In this special issue, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's efforts to help build the capacity of the HIV-prevention workforce to implement and support HIV-prevention programs are described in a variety of articles. The goal of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is to reduce the number of new HIV infections in the United States, with a particular focus on the elimination of racial and ethnic disparities in new infections. This special issue provides capacity building models, and examples of capacity building practice and tools to help understand capacity building and its critical role in reducing HIV/AIDS. We invite you to utilize the valuable information in this special issue to plan, implement, and evaluate your capacity building programs.

Janet C. Cleveland, MS

Deputy Director for Prevention Programs Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention The National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Atlanta, Georgia