The purpose and mission of the NCAB shall be to:

• Provide on-going community, scientific, psycho-social, and political input to the national WIHS agenda

• Help design mechanisms to assure that WIHS participants are representative of the community at large

• Help design mechanisms to inform, educate, and support these participants over time

• Help design mechanisms to assure access of HIV infected/affected women to WIHS research sites and retention of these participants over time

• Advocate for adequate research funding and to allow the full WIHS research agenda to be fulfilled

• Provide support for local community advisory boards and encourage involvement at local levels

• Facilitate translation of WIHS-related information to the community

• Represent and be accessible to community members for WIHS-related concerns