After 45 years of extraordinary progress in the fight against HIV, USCHA 2026 by NMAC was both a celebration of how far the movement has come and a reminder of the work still ahead.
This year's United States Conference on HIV/AIDS brought advocates, healthcare providers, community leaders, policymakers, and people with lived experience together in Anaheim under a fitting theme: United and Unbreakable.
For Alchemy, the week reinforced something we believe deeply: 45 years into the HIV movement, the question isn't only how we continue making progress. It's how we make that progress sustainable for the next 45 years.
The progress made over the last four decades didn't happen by accident. It was driven by relentless advocacy and by organizations that fought for their communities, expanded access to care, challenged inequities, and built new models for reaching people too often left behind by the traditional healthcare system.
The next chapter requires making sure those organizations have the resources, infrastructure, and financial sustainability to keep doing that work.
Starting With 340B and Sustainability
Before the main conference began, Alchemy joined NMAC and leaders from across the HIV community for the USCHA 340B Pre-Conference, Building Sustainable Healthcare Systems Through the 340B Program.
Alchemy Founder and Co-CEO Sid Viswanathan kicked off the program with a session on 340B fundamentals, including why Congress created the program, how the 340B ecosystem works, eligibility, pharmacy operating models, compliance responsibilities, and the pressures facing the program today.
Throughout the day, the conversation expanded into partnership models, HIV prevention and treatment, compliance and risk management, and strategies for maximizing the long-term impact of 340B.
But some of the most powerful lessons came directly from organizations putting 340B to work in their communities every day. We heard real-world examples of organizations using 340B to expand services, improve access to medications, support patients who otherwise couldn't afford care, and reinvest resources back into the communities they serve.
Those stories are an important reminder of what 340B can make possible.
Continuing the Learning With 340B Academy
One day of education isn't enough.
The conversations at USCHA reinforced why we recently launched 340B Academy, Alchemy's free education and training program designed specifically for grantees.
There remains a need for practical 340B education built around the realities of Ryan White providers, STD clinics, FQHCs, and other safety-net organizations.
Our goal with 340B Academy is to help organizations grow 340B knowledge throughout their teams, better understand both the opportunities and responsibilities of the program, and ultimately operate stronger, compliant, and more sustainable programs.
The 340B Pre-Conference may be over, but the learning shouldn't stop there.
Learning From the People Doing the Work
Of course, USCHA was about much more than 340B.
Over several days in Anaheim, our team had hundreds of conversations with organizations from across the country. Some were exploring 340B for the first time. Others were looking for ways to strengthen established programs. Many conversations went far beyond pharmacy.
Again and again, we heard versions of the same underlying question:
How do we build an organization that can sustainably continue expanding care for our community?
There isn't one answer.
It requires funding, infrastructure, great people, strong partnerships, operational excellence, advocacy, trust, and a deep understanding of the community an organization exists to serve.
We came to Anaheim with plenty we wanted to share. We left with even more that we learned.
Some of our favorite moments also happened outside the conference sessions. We had the opportunity to bring together Alchemy clinic partners, friends, and members of the HIV community for dinner, while our booth gave our team the chance to reconnect with longtime partners and meet organizations from across the country.
Those relationships shape how we build Alchemy. Our partners tell us what's working, where they're struggling, what their patients need, and where we need to get better.
The Next 45 Years
Forty-five years of the HIV movement have demonstrated what's possible when communities organize, advocate, innovate, and refuse to accept the status quo.
USCHA 2026 celebrated that history. But it also reminded us that the work isn't finished.
The next chapter will require continuing to expand prevention and treatment, address persistent inequities, protect the programs that make care possible, and ensure the organizations closest to their communities have the resources to remain there for the long haul.
At Alchemy, we're proud to play a small part in that work by helping safety-net organizations build the pharmacy infrastructure, 340B knowledge, and sustainable financial models they need to further their missions.
We left Anaheim inspired by the advocates, providers, leaders, partners, and friends we met throughout the week and more committed than ever to the work ahead.
Here's to making the progress of the next 45 years just as transformative as the first 45. United and Unbreakable.
When 340B is done right, it becomes more than a pharmacy program. It can become the financial engine that sustains and furthers an organization's mission.
Sid Viswanathan
Fonder & Co-CEO, Alchemy
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