Cai Lingping

Lingping currently runs the China HIV/AIDS Information Network (CHAIN), the organisation that hosted her during her Fellowship project and the most important HIV/AIDS resource hub in China. At the time of her project, she had spent more than ten years working in social development, particularly in HIV/AIDS prevention and care in China. She has extensive knowledge of the operations of China’s health system at different levels. As a manager at CHAIN, she was responsible for the publication of the annual directory of INGOs and domestic NGOs working on HIV and AIDS in China. Lingping also served on the Country Coordinating Mechanism of the China Global Fund AIDS Project as well as its NGO Advisory Group and on the board of the China Alliance of PLHIV from 2009 to 2011.

Fellowship Focus
Lingping prepared the way for PrEP in China, working with researchers, policy makers and MSM. She organized Beijing’s first PrEP dialogue and published three newsletters, providing the most updated information on PrEP and global advances in new prevention strategies. She collected perceptions, opinions and concerns about PrEP from potential PrEP users to help inform her advocacy with policy makers and others.

In Their Own Words
Chinese officials and researchers are not likely to communicate with the community. An independent NGO can play a very important role in the middle, providing the knowledge and skills to both sides.

Josephine Kamarebe

At the time of her Fellowship project, Josephine was a program officer at HDI, where she was in charge of advocacy and policy monitoring. She has been involved in various advocacy campaigns for the decriminalization of LGBTI people, sex workers and abortion and has advocated for health and development for potter communities. Prior to her Fellowship year, she coordinated the SHARE project, which aims to empower youths with knowledge about sexual and reproductive health.

Fellowship Focus
Josephine helped create a favorable environment for the rollout of PrEP among the most at-risk populations. She worked with policy makers to include PrEP in the national guidelines. She built a civil society coalition to facilitate demands to policy makers and other key stakeholders. In addition to PrEP, Josephine advocated for treatment as prevention in the country’s national strategic plan and monitored VMMC rollout.

In Their Own Words
For those working with the key populations, it is better to empower them to speak on their own. It gives an added value and augments the policy and decision-makers to act accordingly.

Rumbidzai Mapfumo

Rumbi still works at her host organization, CESHHAR, and remains focused on ensuring that sex workers receive comprehensive health care throughout Zimbabwe. Rumbi did volunteer work in 2011 with TESHE Young Women’s Movement in Zimbabwe and also assisted at TESHE and worked on the film, Odyssey from Student to Sex Worker. Rumbi is a social worker, and her parents are founders of a church; this has guided her advocacy for marginalized populations and HIV.

Fellowship Focus
Rumbi advocated for the scale-up of ARV treatment among sex workers, directly facilitating and supporting their mobilization. She developed a draft of Treatment Guidelines for Sex Workers, promoted sex workers’ voices in different ministries and established circles to ensure that sex workers, civil society, policy makers, service providers and other key stakeholders have conversations that support sex workers to test, seek care and treatment and to optimize the benefits of ART for both prevention and treatment.

In Their Own Words
I learned to study politicians so as to get what you want: spend time going through their speeches to know what words they use and like, read about them and get to know them, make them feel special.

Peter Michira

Peter is a Technical Advisor at Partners PrEP Scale-Up Project in Kenya. At the time of his Fellowship project, he had more than 12 years of experience working in HIV/AIDS programs. He has been involved in the coordination of field activities at the Partners in Prevention clinical trials site in Thika since 2006. He also worked as the focal point for the community within the Partners PrEP HIV discordant couples study, the largest study to date involving 4,758 HIV discordant couples.

Fellowship Focus
The positive results of the Partners PrEP study gave Peter the insight to lobby for the adoption of PrEP as an HIV prevention strategy in Kenya. In his project, Peter built a favorable environment and partnerships with key stakeholders. He formed a PrEP advocacy coalition within civil society and succeeded in getting PrEP funded through the Global Fund. Peter also worked with the media to cover the need for PrEP and its place in the HIV management continuum of care.

In Their Own Words
The Future Fellow will take over the mantle through close association with the various stakeholders and through the newly formed coalition.

Maureen Milanga

Maureen is an Associate Director of International Policy and Advocacy at Health Global Access Project (Health GAP). She’s responsible for campaigning for increased access to HIV treatment, improving outdated HIV treatment policies, mobilizing civil society to demand better drugs faster, increasing civil society engagement to ensure meaningful participation and supporting the enhancement of key population service delivery and focus by governments and donors.

Fellowship Focus
Maureen engaged and influenced national and international processes in adopting the Kenya PLHIV Manifesto, monitoring Option B+ rollout, updating ART guidelines towards “treatment on demand”, and funding decision-making. During and after her Fellowship, she has continued to work with partners to successfully influence the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars in US funding to more effective programs that focus on communities, including key populations in Kenya and several other countries.

In Their Own Words
PEPFAR cuts could force marginalized groups to seek services in general health facilities, where they are likely to face discrimination. In terms of service delivery, it is important to ensure that PLHIV and key populations have access to the latest treatment options and that the community supports their adherence.

Media

Taiwo Oyelakin

Taiwo was tragically killed in an accident in 2014. He was an advocate for the rights of young people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS with a special focus on the rights and dignity of those who are most marginalized. He provided technical support in the formation of the first network of young people living with HIV (YPLHIV network in Nigeria, APYIN). He also helped in the founding of Youths and Adolescents Network on Population and Development in Africa (AFRIYAN) and the Network of Young People Living with HIV in Africa (AY+N). Taiwo was also the co-chair of the Global Network of people living with HIV Y+ Leadership Initiative.

Fellowship Focus
Taiwo’s advocacy focused on optimizing the benefits of ARVs for both treatment and prevention and on ensuring that global treatment plans support and recognize individual human rights of PLHIV, including mothers considering Option B+. Taiwo was also among the first advocates to engage key stakeholders around the rollout of PrEP in Nigeria.

In Their Own Words
The successes we’ve seen over the last few years, including approval of Truvada for PrEP, could be game-changers in turning the tide against AIDS. I believe we can beat the disease, we can win this fight and we just have to keep at it, steadily, persistently today, tomorrow, every day until we get to zero.

Ntando Yola

Ntando Yola is the community engagement lead at the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation (DTHF). In this role, he has worked with various national and international HIV prevention networks. Ntando is also involved in HIV prevention advocacy nationally through APHA as well as through the Vaccine Advocacy Resource Group (VARG) and Africa free of New HIV infections (AfNHi). His advocacy has involved working with various community stakeholders, developing and implementing community education programmes and forming partnerships with health service providers and other community-based organizations as key stakeholders in HIV prevention research. His work is driven by an interest in effectively engaging and involving communities as part of achieving an end to the AIDS epidemic.

Fellowship Focus
Ntando strengthened community engagement efforts within trial sites and communities, influenced relevant policies and guidelines and explored key ethical issues in trials. He facilitated the development of strategy for national stakeholder engagement in clinical trials for South Africa, using the Good Participatory Guidelines as the framework for how research teams engage communities during the research process. He held consultations with a wide range of key stakeholders, including trial communities, HIV prevention advocates, ethics committees, policy makers and national government. He influenced changes on key ethical issues in the conduct of trials, such as post-trial access and commitment by researchers and government, and also influenced changes in necessary policies and guidelines. He sought a consolidated approach toward continuing stakeholder engagement during and beyond HIV prevention clinical trials.

In Their Own Words
The efforts of clinical research from basic concepts to large-scale trials are extremely important investments towards finding health solutions. All forms of medical treatment we enjoy today are a different type of miracle that takes a lot from varied scientific fields, communities who take part, civil society, media and most importantly people and governments who fund this work. Every individual in the world has a role to play and more people are needed to play that role so we can reach a solution faster.

Media: