More than half a million comments were submitted in response to the White House’s proposal to politicize federal research grants – with a significant majority opposing it. At the same time, questions mounted over the future of the CDC, PEPFAR, and the Administration’s vision for transitioning US global health programs. This week also features reflections from former USAID global health leader Atul Gawande on the human cost of dismantling USAID and the likely discussions ahead at AIDS 2026 on the consequences of US policy changes for HIV programs and global health.

Scientists Respond to Escalating Political Attacks

As the assault on scientific independence continues on multiple fronts, an extraordinary response came from scientists, advocates, universities, professional societies and civil society organizations. It culminated in a wave of submissions as the public comment period ended on Monday for the White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) proposed regulation to give political appointees greater authority over federal grant decisions. Nearly 500,000 comments were submitted and analyses published in STAT show nearly 95% opposed the proposal, with many warning it would replace independent peer review with political and ideological oversight, thereby undermining the integrity of publicly-funded biomedical research. At the same time, hundreds of scientists, public health leaders and advocates have signed an open letter supporting former NIAID Director, Anthony Fauci and others who have come under political attack for their work, arguing that defending scientists from intimidation is essential to protecting evidence-based policymaking and the integrity of the US scientific enterprise

IMPLICATIONS: The OMB’s proposed Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance “would politicize grantmaking, dismantle merit-based peer review and severely restrict professional infrastructure necessary for quality research,” AVAC wrote in its comment. While the 500,000 submissions may not stop implementation of this regulation, they could slow the roll-out, set-up impending legal challenges and bolster congressional efforts to intervene. However, together, this all points to growing community recognition and collective action around the importance of safeguarding science now.

READ:  

• AVAC Comment Submission on the White House OMB Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule—AVAC
• Flood of comments on White House grantmaking overhaul is largely negative, analysis shows—STAT
• Comments Are Closed on OMB’s Grantmaking Proposed Rule. Now What?—MedPage Today
• Here’s what happens when you put politicians in charge of science—Science News

CDC Leadership and PEPFAR’s Future

The US Administration’s nominee to serve as Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Erica Schwartz faced questions at her Senate confirmation hearing where members pressed her on vaccine science, scientific independence and the CDC’s future under Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Schwartz was criticized for failing to provide direct answers to questions on vaccine safety, political interference in science and CDC guidance. At the same time the hearing was taking place, 84 partners submitted a letter urging Congressional leadership to intervene after the US Department of State confirmed plans to phase out or fundamentally restructure the CDC’s role in implementing PEPFAR, including allowing more than 100 CDC awards to expire without clear replacement mechanisms and transitioning the agency to a fee-for-service technical assistance model.

IMPLICATIONS: Schwartz’s testimony and inability to provide clear responses on vaccine science and scientific independence reinforces concerns about the CDC’s future in evidence-based decision making. This, plus the potential ending to long-standing transfer of PEPFAR resources to CDC, leaves many questions about the CDC’s future role and independence. As the 84 organizations wrote, “coming on the heels of USAID’s closure in 2025, this change removes the last institutional anchor of a proven, lifesaving program. This shift will pull the plug on lifesaving treatment programs serving millions of patients today and destroy public health systems keeping Americans safe from the health threats of tomorrow.”

READ:

• She blew it. CDC Director nominee tanks in Senate hearing.—Inside Medicine
• CDC Director Nominee Pressed on Vaccines at Senate Hearing—MedPage Today
• Top Trump official out at CDC. Agency now without Chief of Staff or Acting Director.—Inside Medicine
• Experts warn that sidelining CDC threatens PEPFAR’s future—Devex
• Sign-on Letter to Protect CDC PEPFAR Programs—Partners in Health
• Project 2025 and the Federal Science Enterprise: Implementation, Congressional Response, and Impact — An 18-Month Assessment—Joel Widder Substack

Eighteen Months Later: Global Health in Transition 

Just over 18 months into the new US Administration, global health leaders continue to reflect on the human and institutional consequences of the dismantling of USAID and the restructuring of PEPFAR. While greater country ownership has been a shared goal across multiple Presidential Administrations, abrupt funding cuts and weakened technical partnerships risk undermining decades of progress. As former USAID global health leader Atul Gawande said on The New Yorker Radio Hour, “We’ll halt worsening the damage, but it’ll take joint effort to actually stop it and regain our momentum.” Chris Collins of Friends of the Global Fight similarly argues that if the Administration is serious about transitioning from donor-led programs to sustainable national systems, it must pair that vision with predictable financing, stronger country capacity and a deliberate transition plan rather than an accelerated withdrawal

IMPLICATIONS: As implementation of the US Secretary of State’s US global health strategy becomes clearer and the Administration’s bilateral health agreements moves forward, focus must shift to the practical realities of achieving it without reversing gains in HIV epidemic control or weakening broader global health security. These questions will take center stage at AIDS 2026, where multiple sessions will examine the consequences of US policy changes for HIV programs and the future of global health cooperation. See AVAC’s roadmap and resources for Rio.

READ: 

• The Human Cost of DOGE’s War on U.S.A.I.D.—The New Yorker
• What it will take to make Secretary Rubio’s vision for global health aid transition a reality—Friends of the Global Fight
• Guess Who Owns “Country Ownership” and CDC turf?—To End a Plague … Again Substack
• Five Things I’ll Be Watching at AIDS 2026—Lights. Camera. Equity! Substack

What We’re Reading

• PrEP uptake collapses by 80pc as donor funding dries up—The Nation (Kenya)
• Taking A Shot: Is Africa Closer to Ending AIDS?—Forbes
• Global Fund proposal to scrap evaluation team draws board pushback—Devex
• Search for new Global Fund Executive Director intensifies—The Lancet
• Emails Detail Confusion in State Department over Trump Plan to Destroy Contraceptives—Washington Post
• CASPR Impact Report—AVAC
• Guideline on doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis for sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men and transgender women—WHO
• First patients enrolled in record-breaking Ebola treatment trial in DRC—The Guardian
• Global Fund Approves Emergency Funding to Protect HIV and TB Services in Venezuela Following Earthquakes—Global Fund
• Faith groups urge White House to release funding for HIV/AIDS prevention—The Hill  

By Breanne Lievense, Barbra Ncube & Navita Jain

The future of HIV prevention will depend not only on scientific breakthroughs, but on advocacy to bring those breakthroughs to communities to achieve impact. With global health undergoing profound change, the way forward requires new models of collaboration that are community-led, locally owned and sustainably funded. The Coalition to Accelerate and Support Prevention Research (CASPR) offers one such model for the field as we collectively work to end the HIV epidemic.

AVAC’s newly released CASPR Impact Report: Celebrating Growth, Inspiring the Future shows what is possible when long-term investment in African leadership, partnerships and advocacy is matched with shared purpose. CASPR proved that community-led coalitions are not just a complement to scientific progress, but are central to this progress. They have proved to be essential to turning innovation into action and ensuring that advances in HIV prevention are shaped by the people and communities they are meant to serve.

CASPR was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and designed by AVAC in collaboration with 13 partners. The project was intended to run from 2016 through 2026, but was paused in early 2025 amidst sweeping cuts to US federal funding for foreign assistance and the dismantling of USAID. During its eight years, CASPR built an Africa-led movement that connected communities, researchers, policymakers, journalists and funders to transform HIV prevention advocacy. CASPR strengthened community leadership, shaped research agendas, improved accountability and helped accelerate the translation of scientific discovery into public health impact.

CASPR built an intergenerational movement that influenced HIV policy, research and implementation. For example, CASPR partners played a pivotal role in ensuring the PURPOSE trials (studying injectable lenacapavir for PrEP) centered affected communities from trial design to results dissemination. CASPR members chaired the PURPOSE 1 global community advisory group (GCAG), held six of its eight seats and ensured young women were included on the GCAG and in the research, from the start. The GCAG also ensured the trial protocol allowed pregnant and breastfeeding individuals to remain in the trial after re-consent, and the Civil Society Caucus for Long-Acting PrEP (a CASPR-supported initiative) pushed Gilead to publicly announce a commitment to ensuring equitable access. CASPR made certain that the trials were conducted ethically and included communities, setting a standard for future clinical research.

At the same time, CASPR partners established the African Women Prevention Community Accountability Board (AWPCAB) as a network led by and for African women, advocating for sustained financial and political commitment to HIV prevention choice. The AWPCAB launched the Choice Manifesto in 2023, securing commitments and endorsements from high-level stakeholders such as Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, representatives from USAID and African ministries of health. The Choice Manifesto shifted the global narrative on choice in HIV prevention, elevating it as core to achieving equity in the HIV response. With the Choice Manifesto in hand, CASPR partners achieved significant policy wins, like the inclusion of the Dapivirine Vaginal Ring in the Zambia Consolidated Treatment and Prevention Guidelines.

CASPR also redefined how – and by whom – HIV prevention research priorities are set by ensuring that communities most affected by HIV have a direct voice in shaping the research agenda. CASPR developed the People’s Research Agenda (PRA) through a collaborative process with 138 advocates and community representatives from 23 countries. The PRA puts forward community-driven recommendations to strengthen and diversify the HIV prevention research and development (R&D) pipeline, increase investment in prevention research and guide advocacy that reflects the needs of communities from research to rollout. First launched in 2024 and updated in 2025, the PRA serves as a living accountability tool that continues to guide advocates, researchers and funders in ensuring that HIV prevention R&D remains responsive to the people it is intended to serve. It also now provides ongoing analysis of the pipeline of products in various stages of research and development.

Through CASPR, and building on and incorporating the long-standing AVAC Advocacy Fellows program, more than 700 advocates were mentored, almost 400 adolescent girls and young women were trained in HIV prevention literacy and advocacy and emerging leaders across 15 countries strengthened their capacity to influence HIV prevention research, policy and implementation.

“Before the fellowship, I never imagined I could convene high-level policy dialogues, engage decision-makers or negotiate for stronger HIV prevention responses,” said 2022 AVAC Fellow Ruth Akulu. “The fellowship built my capacity, strengthened my confidence and helped me recognize my ability to lead and influence change.” Today, Ruth is the founder and Executive Director of HopeStone Insight Uganda, a forward-thinking organization that seeks to influence economic policy to advance equitable health outcomes and access to quality healthcare.

In addition to advocates, CASPR engaged journalists as essential partners in translating HIV prevention science and fostering public trust. CASPR held over 200 Media Science Cafés, equipping hundreds of journalists across six countries with the knowledge and skills needed to report HIV prevention science accurately. Convened by local journalist organizations, cafés are informal gatherings that bring together journalists, scientists and advocates to discuss the latest HIV prevention and public health updates. The Café program supported by CASPR forged critical cross-sector relationships and facilitated accurate journalism, ultimately leading to community trust of science and R&D. Café journalists played an especially important role in facilitating trust in the wake of complicated or disappointing results, mobilizing their network within hours of results announcements to translate information for the public, ensure robust community engagement and champion continued research efforts.

CASPR succeeded because it invested deeply in local organizations and embraced shared power, co-created strategy and African leadership. CASPR demonstrated the power of coalitions for generating sustainable advocacy, but that building a coalition takes time. After eight successful years of global coalition-building, CASPR leaves five enduring lessons that will continue to shape the future of HIV prevention advocacy: 

• Shared goals create stronger, more resilient coalitions capable of sustaining collective action through changing political and funding landscapes. 
• Long-term relationships build trust, effectiveness and collective impact, enabling organizations to move beyond coordination towards genuine collaboration. 
• Diverse expertise strengthens learning, innovation and problem-solving; it drives effective advocacy anchored by the complementarity of partner strengths. 
• Documenting and communicating successes is essential for visibility, influence and sustainability. 
• Intentionally investing in young people and women builds the next generation of advocacy leaders, equipped with confidence, credibility and purpose. 

CASPR’s legacy lives in the resilient organizations and networks it incubated such as the AWPCAB and the Civil Society Caucus, which ensure communities drive HIV prevention research and access, as well as in the tools and resources created for advocates, journalists, policymakers and researchers that are still used today to translate HIV prevention research to rollout.

The foundation built by CASPR is also shaping what comes next. As new networks form and the landscape evolves, CASPR partners and other experienced civil society organizations and advocates from East and Southern Africa are engaged in discussions around what comes next for the future of HIV prevention advocacy and mentorship. Advocates are finding innovative ways to advance a renewed vision for African-led HIV prevention advocacy—one that is collaborative, resilient and designed for the challenges ahead. These initiatives are vital so that communities continue to shape the future of HIV prevention—not simply respond to it.

“One of the many things I take with me [from CASPR] is that when you invest in leadership, even when the program or the project closes, the infrastructure remains.”

Rosemary Mburu

Executive Director of WACI Health

The lesson from CASPR is clear: strong, community-led advocacy will safeguard the future of HIV prevention. Coalition models build resilience, strengthen accountability and ensure that scientific advances translate into equitable access. But these networks require sustained investment, trust and time to flourish. With the shift in global health funding, now is the moment to invest in the leaders, partnerships and platforms that have already demonstrated their impact.

The AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, starting in less than two weeks, comes at a defining moment for the global HIV response. Under the theme, Rethink. Rebuild. Rise., the conference convenes as the field grapples with funding disruptions, shifting geopolitics and the challenge of sustaining progress while translating scientific breakthroughs into equitable, community-led access. Alongside the latest research, discussions are expected to focus on scaling-up long-acting HIV prevention, strengthening health systems, advancing country ownership, sustaining the research enterprise, and ensuring the HIV response remains grounded in innovation, implementation and investment.

AVAC’s resources below aim to help those attending and those following from afar to navigate the discussion and debate in and around Rio.

Read on for resources and ways to navigate AIDS 2026.

AVAC’s Guides to AIDS 2026

HIV Prevention Session Roadmap
Explore AVAC’s curated roadmap of HIV prevention sessions and key presentations to watch throughout AIDS 2026.

AI and HIV Session Roadmap
AVAC and Audere’s AI & HIV Session Roadmap, features key conference sessions on artificial intelligence in HIV prevention, care, research and global health.

HIV Research & Advocacy Networking Zone

Resources

Resource Hubs

Resource Hub: Lenacapavir for Long-Acting PrEP
The introduction of injectable lenacapavir for HIV PrEP (LEN) is underway–in some places. While the field is moving faster than it did during the first decade of oral PrEP or the rollout of injectable cabotegravir, ensuring LEN—and future prevention options—reach everyone who needs them will require even greater speed, scale and equity. This resource hub contains all the tools, resources and insights on the latest with LEN rollout.

Resource Hub: MK-8527
Expanding prevention choice means investing in a diverse pipeline of HIV prevention options. MK-8527 is an investigational antiretroviral (ARV) once-monthly oral PrEP pill currently in Phase III clinical trials. If proven safe and effective, it could offer another important PrEP option. This resource hub provides advocates with an overview of the MK-8527, the science behind it and the latest on its clinical development. It also houses our guide to MK-8527 at AIDS 20206.

Resource Hub: People’s Research Agenda
The People’s Research Agenda (PRA) sets out a people-centered framework for equitable and accelerated R&D and product introduction. This resource hub offers an online, interactive dashboard for tracking, translating, and advocating for HIV prevention research and development (R&D). It also shows where investments align—or fail to align—with community-defined priorities, and spotlights critical gaps in the pipeline of prevention options needed to meet the diverse realities of all populations.

Pre-conferences, Satellites, Sessions and Workshops Featuring AVAC and Partners

• Pre-conference: Advancing HIV prevention science and access
  08:00 – 19:00
  Hosted by the International AIDS Society, this pre-conference features six sessions showcasing the latest advances in HIV prevention science and access—including the Global Forecast of Long-Acting PrEP Need for Key Populations (2025–2030), developed jointly by GBGMC and AVAC. AVAC board, staff and partners will also explore the science behind next-generation HIV vaccine candidates and how to translate.

Monday, 27 July

• Satellite: Shared pipeline; shared goal: Innovations in long-acting antiretrovirals for PrEP, PEP and treatment
  11:30 – 12:30 
  Organized by AVAC, this session will bring together researchers, product developers, donors, advocates and other partners to explore the future of long-acting antiretroviral (ARV) innovation for PrEP, PEP and treatment.

Tuesday, 28 July

• Symposium: bNAbs for cure: Hope or hype?
  10:30-11:30
  AVAC Board Member Marina Caskey will present in this symposium exploring the promise—and limitations—of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) for HIV cure.

Wednesday, 29 July

• Symposium: Leadership at the tipping point: Protecting the gains and advancing progress in a new era of the HIV response
  10:30-11:30
  Moderated by AVAC’s Mitchell Warren and HER Voice Fund Ambassador Nomonde Ngema, this symposium explores the future of the global HIV response amid shifting political priorities and an evolving global health landscape.

• Satellite: Choosing impact: Making long-acting HIV prevention a reality for key populations in sub-Saharan Africa
  12:00 – 13:00
  Organized by Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC) with AVAC and a number of partners participating, this session will examine strategies to sustain and expand HIV prevention for key populations as long-acting prevention options become available.

• Satellite: To fund or not to fund: Pathways and proof points to sustaining HIV prevention as part of integrated approaches and health financing reforms
  18:00 – 19:30
  Organized by PATH, AVAC, UNAIDS, WHO, Unitaid, APCOM, ICWEA, Harvard, Frontline AIDS and the Elton John AIDS Foundation, this session will examine the growing HIV prevention funding crisis and what’s needed to sustain progress.

Thursday, 30 July

• Workshop: Skills Lab: Community-led monitoring
  12:00 – 13:30
  Facilitated by the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC), NACOSA, the Network of Journalists Living with HIV (JONEHA) and community monitoring experts, including AVAC Senior Advisor Maureen Luba, this interactive workshop will strengthen practical skills in community-led monitoring (CLM).

• Symposium: From community to innovation to scale
  16:30 – 17:30
  AVAC’s Grace Kumwenda will join community leaders, researchers, clinicians, policymakers and funders to discuss the partnerships, inclusive research and implementation strategies needed to accelerate innovation and ensure equitable access from the outset.

• Satellite: From choice to impact: Long-acting and multipurpose HIV prevention technologies
  18:00 – 19:30
  Hosted by IPM South Africa, AVAC and Access Bridge’s Kate Segal and Ascend Futures Foundation’s Chilufya Kasanda will join researchers, advocates, implementers and policymakers to examine the latest scientific advances, implementation strategies and pathways to equitable access for long-acting options and MPTs.

Friday, July 31

• Symposium: The promises of long-acting injectable PrEP for HIV prevention
  10:30 – 11:30
  Access Bridge Executive Director Wawira Nyagah share community perspectives on early implementation of injectable cabotegravir and lenacapavir, identifying remaining gaps, and discussing strategies to accelerate equitable rollout.

Follow Us

AVAC will be covering conversations and events at the conference. Be sure to follow along on social and find updates on our AIDS 2026 page.

• BlueSky: @avac.org
• Instagram: @hivpxresearch
• LinkedIn: AVAC (AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition)

As many in the United States pause to commemorate Independence Day – and, hopefully, re-commit to the fundamental principles of democracy – the global health community continues to navigate the far-reaching effects of US policy decisions. Institutions are changing, governance is being redefined and the systems that have underpinned the global HIV response are being reshaped. This issue covers developments in global health governance, the continued restructuring of US vaccine policy and growing concerns that PEPFAR’s transition is outpacing the systems needed to sustain it.

Global Governance Shifts

The last two weeks, and the week ahead, mark key moments for global health governance with implications for the HIV response. Last week, for the first time in 25 years, UN Member States adopted a new Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS with a vote (with the US voting no), as opposed to the historic consensus of all past declarations. This week, both the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) and the Unitaid Executive Board met against the backdrop of financial strain and uncertainty. Conversations and debates about their future roles continued, including questions about UNAIDS’ future structure within the UN system. Next week, the Global Fund Board will meet as it prepares to select its next Executive Director who is expected to shape the Fund’s strategic direction during one of the most challenging periods in its history.

IMPLICATIONS: In all these meetings, there is a reassessment of each entity and a reenvisioning of how global health organizations will coordinate, finance and sustain the HIV response in an era of constrained resources and shifting geopolitical priorities. As countries work toward the 2030 goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat, the decisions made by these governing bodies in the coming weeks will help determine whether and how the HIV response maintains the leadership, financing, accountability, collaboration and civil society engagement needed to carry the response forward.

READ:

• Does the UN Political Declaration on HIV/ AIDS Even Matter Anymore?—Lights. Camera. Equity! Substack  
• Merger, hub, or slimmer secretariat? What’s next for UNAIDS—Devex  
• Candidates Shortlisted In Contentious Global Fund Leadership Race—Health Policy Watch 
• From innovation to impact: Building on 20 years of progress—Unitaid  

US HHS Rewrites ACIP Charter, Further Reshaping US Vaccine Policy

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a new charter for the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), broadening the Committee’s mandate and reducing the qualifications required for membership. Previously, vaccine expertise was a requirement, but the revised charter states that members should collectively represent a “balanced range of scientific, clinical, and public health expertise”. The new charter also expands the Committee’s focus beyond reviewing vaccines to considering alternative approaches to disease prevention.

IMPLICATIONS: This is the latest step in the restructuring of ACIP. By broadening the Committee’s remit and redefining membership qualifications, vaccine policymaking is further politicized and vaccine confidence continues to erode. This creates further instability and uncertainty for vaccine manufacturers, healthcare providers and immunization programs worldwide.

READ:

• New ACIP charter could allow RFK Jr. to further restrict vaccine access, critics say—CIDRAP  
• Inside the C.D.C.’s Mad Scramble to Meet Kennedy’s Demands—New York Times 
• Sanders releases trove of internal HHS emails showing RFK Jr. pressured CDC over vaccine messaging—The Hill 
• RFK Jr Changes Terms for US Vaccine Committee as Email Leak Reveals Sustained Political Interference in Vaccine Policy—Health Policy Watch 

PEPFAR In Transition

Two commentaries this week recognize the breaking point to which PEPFAR is nearing. The Health Security Policy Academy argues that despite the temporary extensions, which have kept and continue to keep parts of PEPFAR operating, the US Department of State has not yet built a viable implementation system to keep HIV treatment, supply chains, laboratories and community programs working. At the same time, Emily Bass, Yvette Raphael, Nono Eland and colleagues at Physicians for Human Rights argue in Think Global Health that the planned phase-out of all US PEPFAR support for South Africa by early 2027 is not a routine transition to country ownership, and caution that this accelerated withdrawal risks severed disruption to HIV prevention, surveillance, research and community programs that have long depended on US partnership.

IMPLICATIONS: Without a clear implementation strategy and carefully managed country transitions, these abrupt changes to PEPFAR threaten essential HIV services. A more deliberate, evidence-based approach that preserves critical infrastructure while supporting long-term country ownership is needed. “The dismantling of USAID showed what happens when the Administration destroys an operating system before a replacement exists. That chaos was not an accident, but it was sudden,” writes the Health Security Policy Academy. It remains even less clear what happens next with leadership transitions at the State Department: Jeremy Lewin who has led the State Department’s foreign aid bureau for the last year is heading to the National Security Council, and is being replaced by Andrew Veprek, who has pushed immigration and refugee restrictions at the State Department – and confirmation hearings are yet to be scheduled for Johnny Figueroa as the ambassador-at-large for global health security and diplomacy and PEPFAR.

READ:

• The CDC PEPFAR Shutdown Is Hiding in Plain Sight—Health Security Policy Academy 
• United States Pulls Funding for South Africa, Threatening HIV Defenses—Think Global Health  
• Human impact of cuts to global aid in South Africa—The Lancet HIV  
• State Department’s foreign aid chief heads to the White House—Devex 
• Immigration hardliner takes over US foreign aid—Devex  
• U.S.A.I.D. Cuts Killed People. That’s the Truth.—New York Times 

What We’re Reading

• NIH Budget Cuts Threaten HIV Research—Think Global Health 
• The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it—The Verge 
• NIH likely to award fewer grants as it races to spend 2026 budget—Science  
• Inside the new political screening that’s stalling NIH grants—Nature  
• US to give Tanzania $1.3 billion under five-year health pact—Reuters 
• Tanzania, US sign Sh8 trillion health partnership to strengthen health systems—The Citizen  
• Quiet regulation changes could censor vital research—The Boston Globe 
• 3 questions about the future of US foreign aid—Devex Pro Insider 
• Exclusive: Democrats push Trump to coordinate with WHO on Ebola—Semafor  
• US-UK drug deal could result in 229,000 excess deaths in England, analysis suggests—The Guardian  
• Zim Intensifies HIV Prevention Drive as Lenacapavir Gains Momentum—The Herald 
• Anthropic releases Claude Science, a product aimed at researchers, the pharma industry—STAT  
• Pileup of health nominees awaits Senate health panel—Axios
• Global Fund Approves Emergency Funding to Maintain TB and HIV Services in Crisis-Affected Lebanon and Iraq—The Global Fund 
• Military Leaders Sought Flu Vaccination Program Weeks Before Outbreak Hit Base—New York Times 
• Attacks on Science: A Methodology for Tracking and Identifying Threats to Science in the Federal Government—Union of Concerned Scientists 

Global health is being reshaped by rapid geopolitical shifts, scientific breakthroughs and the growing role of artificial intelligence — creating both new opportunities and new challenges. Translating scientific breakthroughs into impact requires protecting research, advancing equitable access and ensuring communities are at the center. Explore AVAC’s latest resources to help navigate and shape what comes next.

Think Global Health: NIH Budget Cuts Threaten HIV Research

AVAC’s Stacey Hannah and Mitchell Warren remind us in Think Global Health that “at a moment when scientific progress is advancing, advocates, researchers, policymakers, and communities should push back against politically motivated, fringe, antivaccine sentiments that threaten decades of investment to develop the tool that would finally break the back of the epidemic.” 

From Anticipation to Action: The Civil Society Advocates’ Checklist for Lenacapavir for PrEP 

The introduction of injectable lenacapavir for HIV PrEP (LEN) is underway–in some places at least. To ensure communities remain at the center of LEN rollout, this new Advocates’ Checklist for Lenacapavir for PrEP Introduction is an immediate, actionable blueprint designed to help civil society organizations (CSOs) and global health advocates pressure-test government commitments, map implementation bottlenecks and demand equitable access. The checklist is designed to support faster, community-centered rollout ahead of broader generic availability in 2027, as described by the co-chairs of the Civil Society Caucus of the Coalition to Accelerate Access to Long-Acting PrEP and AVAC staff.

The Future Won’t Build Itself: Sustaining the Movement CASPR Started

Tuesday, 14 July @ 9:00am EDT  16:00 EAT 

Join AVAC and partners to hear the impact stories of ten years of the Coalition to Accelerate and Support Prevention Research (CASPR). Established in 2016, CASPR was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and designed by AVAC with leading civil society partners to influence HIV prevention research, policy and implementation. With attacks on global health and shrinking resources dismantling hard-won gains, the lessons from CASPR are a call for continued action: strong, community-led advocacy is indispensable to safeguard the future of HIV prevention.

Community First: Practical Strategies for Inclusive Implementation Science

Wednesday, 15 July @ 11:00am EDT  18:00 EAT 

Join The Choice Agenda and Hunter College’s Sarit Golub for a participatory discussion on implementation science – including opportunities, pitfalls and ways in which community leadership is essential to success. What are the different types of implementation science, and how do we move forward with community and front-line implementers at the helm? 

AI & HIV Newsletter

ICYMI, AVAC launched the AI & HIV Newsletter, a new quarterly resource highlighting the latest tools, research, policy developments and news at the intersection of AI and HIV. Designed for advocates and the global community and guided by an expert advisory board, the newsletter provides readers with the information and resources to engage with AI in ways that strengthen equity, protect individuals and communities and prioritize their inclusion, and ensure that technological innovation advances the HIV response. 

The pace of change in global health is not slowing and neither is the need for informed, coordinated advocacy. Look out for our AIDS 2026 conference roadmap and more resources coming soon!