HIV self-testing and PrEP, fighting health misinformation, innovations in GPP, and more!
This week AVAC is hosting a webinar on Innovations in GPP, sharing two new briefs to support PrEP access, a new podcast on strategies to counter health misinformation, and much more!
Inform your advocacy on HIV self-testing & PrEP, PrEP for girls and women, and health misinformation
Scale-up of PrEP since 2021 has allowed implementers and researchers to generate significant new evidence on opportunities and challenges for reaching adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Eastern and Southern Africa with PrEP services. This brief summarizes these insights.
In a new podcast by Health Nonprofit Digital Marketing, AVAC’s Director of Communications, Kenyon Farrow discusses how nonprofits can combat medical mistrust and disinformation around infectious diseases in a time of increasing epidemics and pandemics.
This webinar will feature site-level, national, and funders from across the globe who have non-traditional approaches to GPP. Examples multiple perspectives – sponsor to site-level, will illustrate the evolution of GPP from CABs and town hall meetings to more innovative and partnership-based approaches.
Join AVAC and the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives (CISDI) for a side event during the 79th UNGA High-Level Meeting. This event will draw lessons from the successful experiences of CSOs in enhancing inclusivity in multilateral discussions and implementation of agreements/treaties on topics such as one health, climate, human rights, and more. AVAC’s Samantha Rick will moderate alongside Eloise Todd of Pandemic Action Network, Lawrence Gostin of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Neil Vora of Preventing Pandemics at the Source and Olivia Herlinda of CISDI.
A big win for U=U in South Africa, learn how it was done
Podcast: PxPulse: An Advocacy Chronicle on U=U in South Africa with Mandisa Dukashe
Tune into to this episode to learn why U=U represents a vital strategy in the HIV response and how Mandisa Dukashe’s advocacy influenced the South African government to launch a national U=U campaign.
This month, AVAC will be presenting at the UN General Assembly and the STI Prevention Conference, hosting a handful of webinars and sharing important resources, so be sure to look out for our weekly roundups.
HIV leaders say it’s time to end the long wait for long acting products
Major advances in long-acting HIV treatment and prevention, including the latest PURPOSE 1 results of lenacapavir for PrEP, hold great promise for achieving global targets. However, planning to coordinate among stakeholders, including pharmaceutical companies, governments, and multilateral organizations to deploy and ensure equitable access to these products, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, requires immediate action.
“Civil society organisations and HIV activists have been instrumental in holding pharmaceutical companies, financial donors, governments, and international organisations accountable for commitments to the international HIV treatment response for decades,” the authors write. “These organisations and activists are needed to promote transparency in pricing, challenge restrictive patent practices, advocate for affordable and widespread availability of drug innovations, prevent companies from restricting broad access to medications, and require funding to allow this work to be done independently.”
Key Messages
Long-acting antiretrovirals are perhaps the greatest advance in HIV care in over a decade and provide great promise towards achieving global HIV prevention and control programme targets.
Current long-acting agents are firmly under the control of originator pharmaceutical companies and remain unavailable or cost-prohibitive across much of the globe.
If action from the broader HIV community is stagnant, the populations who are most in need of these long-acting agents are unlikely to receive any benefit until well into the 2030s, resulting in a large number of preventable HIV infections.
Coordination by international agencies, with assistance from relevant financial donors and stakeholders, will be needed in the complex research and access programmes required to provide widescale use of these indispensable products to people living with HIV or affected by HIV.
Resources on Long-Acting HIV Prevention
The Lens on LEN: this primer for advocates shares the basics on injectable lenacapavir as PrEP.
Long-Acting PrEP Status Update: this webpage shares graphics and information synthesizing the current status of long-acting PrEP products. It’s updated quarterly.
PrEP Products Overview: this page on PrEPWatch shares the status of PrEP products in development and approved. Injectable Cabotegravir Evidence Gap Tracker: this webpage summarizes the latest insights from the Biomedical Prevention Implementation Collaborative (BioPIC) on injectable CAB for PrEP, links to learn more, and information on where evidence is still needed, mapped against priority evidence gaps.
The Long Wait for Long-Acting HIV Prevention and Treatment Formulations
This commentary in The Lancet HIV calls on WHO, financial donors, manufacturers, and governments to take coordinated action to make long-acting HIV prevention and treatment available at scale in lower- and middle-income countries.
Harnessing Private Sector Strategies for Family Planning to deliver the Dual Prevention Pill
The latest edition of the Journal of the International AIDS Societyfeatures newly published research by AVAC and partners on the benefits of delivering family planning and PrEP using pharmacies, e-pharmacies and telemedicine, in addition to private sector clinics. The research demonstrates why these delivery methods should be prioritized for rolling out the Dual Prevention Pill (DPP), a daily pill that combines oral PrEP with an oral contraceptive to prevent both unintended pregnancy and HIV.
Meta-analysis of Pregnancy Events in Biomedical HIV Prevention Trials in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for Gender Transformative Trials
CASPR partners authored new research published in AIDS and Behaviorhighlighting the need for clinical trial teams to balance the goals of generating scientific evidence with participants’ fertility choices. The authors argue that to better support participants, trials should adopt strategies that accommodate changing fertility preferences, plan for pregnancies, and consider the ethical implications of allowing pregnant participants to continue in studies. This approach would contribute to a more gender-transformative approach to pregnancy in HIV prevention trials.
Mark Your Calendars: Upcoming Webinar
TOMORROW, August 27: Opportunities to Expand Equitable Access to HIV Prevention Services through Community Pharmacies Join The Choice Agenda and RxEACH, a national coalition effort working to expand and sustain access to HIV prevention and linkage to care services in community pharmacies for a webinar discussing the opportunity to expand equitable access to HIV prevention services, including PrEP, and what is needed to grow and sustain community-based HIV prevention service programs in pharmacies.
August 29: PrEP Your Booty Join The Choice Agenda and HPTN 106 (REV UP), an innovative clinical trial from the HIV Prevention Trials Network that will investigate the safety and acceptability of a tenofovir-based rectal douche for HIV prevention, for a discussion with researchers leading the study.
September 11: Innovations in GPP Join AVAC and champions of Good Participatory Practices (GPP) as they illustrate the evolution of GPPS from CABs and town hall meetings to more innovative and partnership-based approaches.
The DPP is the Multipurpose Prevention Technology (MPT) closest to market and the first-ever with PrEP. Following the recent successful conclusion of a bioequivalence study, where researchers demonstrated the active ingredients functioned in the body the same as when PrEP and oral contraception are taken separately, the DPP could be approved by regulators by late 2025. The DPP could be a desirable choice for women seeking an option that will meet multiple needs in their sexual and reproductive health (SRH).
The research found that a significant proportion of family planning (FP) services in Kenya (22%), South Africa (11.4%) and Zimbabwe (17.3%) are delivered using the private sector (such as private provider networks, pharmacies, e-pharmacies and telemedicine). But these channels remain underutilized and represent a largely untapped — yet growing — delivery channel with great potential to expand access to PrEP.
“Addressing the underlying reasons why this is the case will be a prerequisite to DPP rollout, not just in these three countries, but in all countries with high HIV incidence where the private sector is a popular source for FP, such as Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Uganda and Zambia”.
The authors write.
Based on these findings, regulators should update national guidelines to allow for more diverse PrEP delivery. Training on PrEP delivery could be expanded among nurses and other providers, as well as doctors. Clinics, pharmacies, telemedecine and e-pharmacies could offer PrEP. Implementers and researchers should also undertake research to better understand willingness and ability to pay, how these factors align with the cost of DPP delivery, and what additional subsidy may be needed to ensure successful rollout of the DPP.
This research supports a Market Preparation and Introduction Strategy that is guiding plans for how, where and to whom the DPP is introduced. Providing users a range of options to access the DPP in non-traditional channels will minimize stigma, improve convenience, and offer discretion — all of which are features that will increase overall uptake and continuation. See our resources on the DPP below.
With a growing number of PrEP products in development and approved for use in various countries, and an increase in PrEP initiations worldwide, the future of PrEP has never been more exciting. Check out our newly redesigned PrEPWatch website to help navigate the latest research, policy developments, implementation strategies, and advocacy efforts worldwide. The updated site features an array of expanded PrEP resources and improved navigation. We hope PrEPWatch and its resources will be helpful in your advocacy.
Explore the Latest on PrEPWatch
Enhanced Resource Library: An extensive collection of updated tools, research, and guidelines, making it easier than ever for users to access the latest information on PrEP implementation and best practices. Check out some of the most used resources like the Integrated Study Dashboard.
Interactive Global PrEP Tracker: Provides up-to-date information on PrEP initiations by country and delivery model, offering insights into the progress and impact of PrEP programs around the world.
Country Planning Tracker: Navigable matrix showing where PrEP products are currently approved and where approval is pending. It also tracks key indicators for the introduction of new PrEP options by country, including late-stage clinical trials and implementation research, procurement plans, and more.
CAB for PrEP Evidence Tracker: Summarizes the latest insights from the Biomedical Prevention Implementation Collaborative (BioPIC) on injectable CAB for PrEP, links to learn more, and information on where evidence is still needed, mapped against priority evidence gaps.
Updated Product Pages: Updated product information addressing frequently asked questions about PrEP options that are currently available and those in late-stage clinical development – including updates on the latest news related to injectable lenacapavir.
Choice, access, and equity were central themes during the sessions and discussions at #AIDS2024 on Wednesday and Thursday. Highlights included new data on long-acting cabotegravir, a plenary calling out the need to move with speed, scale and equity in the rollout of new PrEP options, updated guidelines to improve access to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), a renewed commitment to the African Women’s Choice Manifesto, new data highlighting the omission of key populations from sustainability planning, and much more.
Click below to access AVAC’s daily reports from #AIDS2024 and read on for Wednesday and Thursday highlights.
The African Women’s Prevention Accountability Board (AWPCAB) continued to raise their voices and call on the international community to prioritize expanded access to existing products such as the dapivirine vaginal ring and injectable cabotegravir and developing new methods to ensure a range of prevention options for women and girls. Winnie Byanyima of UNAIDS pointed to her commitment to the Choice Manifesto, a declaration put forward by AWPCAB calling for sustained political and financial support for more choice in HIV prevention.
At a Thursday satellite, HIV Prevention in the Time of Choice, Michelle Rudolph from WHO said they are “supporting PrEP options, also PrEP choice, prevention choice, and that includes the [dapivirine] ring, and we’ll continue to include the ring in all of our guidance moving forward.” Next steps for making choice a reality included curricula for training healthcare workers; more PrEP options for pregnant and lactating people; reducing costs through local manufacturing and technology transfers; and of course, community engagement.
2 for the Price of 1: DPP as the next MPT
In a workshop on the Dual Prevention Pill (DPP), Two for the price of one: Simplifying access to HIV prevention and contraception with multipurpose prevention technologies(MPTs), attendees brainstormed how to address real-world dilemmas that may come with rolling out the DPP, such as how to train HIV and family planning providers to deliver it; how will governments and donors balance the delivery of all proven methods for HIV prevention, including CAB for PrEP and the ring. Proposed solutions touched on the role of stakeholder engagement, models for demand creation and more. To learn more about the DPP and the full pipeline of MPTs, see AVAC’s Advocates’ Guide to MPTs.
Pushing for Equity in Access: All PrEP & PEP
As the international community hailed the results of the PURPOSE 1 trial of injectable lenacapavir for PrEP in Wednesday’s Co-Chairs’ Choice session and called on its maker and international partners to plan for equitable access in its rollout (pending additional data and regulatory reviews), WHO published updated guidelines aimed at expanding access to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), a critical and under-used intervention in reducing new infections. These guidelines come on the heels of UNAIDS’ newest report showing an estimated 1.3 million new HIV infections in 2023, with increases seen in countries where investment in prevention was lower.
“We cannot say that we are doing well until we are doing well,” Jhpiego’s Elizabeth Irungu shared in Thursday’s plenary, HIV Prevention Strategies, speaking to the current state of PrEP choice, access and uptake globally. Irungu decried the historical delays in the rollout of oral PrEP and called on all stakeholders to break the 12-year cycle of squandering opportunities in prevention.
The Inclusion of KPs in Country Planning for Sustainability: A report on pseudo engagement
The voices of key populations (KPs), such as gay men, other men who have sex with men, sex workers and people who inject drugs, are too often left out of sustainability planning, a process pushed by PEPFAR and UNAIDS. This was a finding from an analysis in six countries conducted by the Key Population Trans-National Collaboration (KP-TNC). From the sessionIntegrating social enterprise for sustainability of key population programmes, AVAC’s Richard Muko, talked about some the causes behind this finding. These include cultural and religious beliefs that stigmatize KPs; reactionary policy moves that exclude KP voices; punitive laws targeting KPs; insufficient guidelines on how KP communities will be included in the sustainability framework; lack of political will and lack of understanding of KP needs in relation to HIV programming. “Some minimal communication can amount to pseudo involvement of KPs. But we see a signal that KP needs may be missing from the final sustainability roadmaps under development now.” The abstract on the study, Country HIV response sustainability roadmaps: where are key populations in the conversations?, calls for PEPFAR, Global Fund and UNAIDS to step up with frameworks for KP engagement in the development of sustainability roadmaps.
Making the Case for an HIV Vaccine
Leaders in HIV prevention voiced unwavering support for vaccine development notwithstanding the scientific challenges, even as the world watches ARV-based interventions making enormous strides. In his plenary talk, Devin Sok of the Global Health Investment Corporation equated the HIV epidemic with a fire that can get out of control at any time. “We really need to reduce the embers to the point that we won’t have a fire… a vaccine will be essential for supporting epidemic control and eventually eliminating HIV as a public health threat.”
Later in the day, the satellite session Ending the Epidemic: The role of a vaccine in the era of long-acting PrEP. Participants said the science in broadly neutralizing antibodies is accelerating with implications for vaccine research; investments in vaccine science have yielded unimaginable and enormous benefits (including COVID vaccines); and ultimately the choice of a vaccine remains essential to a sustainable and durable end to pandemic. As NIAID leader Jeanne Marrazzo said, “to understand any process that we can eventually apply to cure or to eliminate HIV, it’s got to involve an HIV vaccine.” And, ultimately, she said, there are populations of people who may never be as comfortable with ARV’s as a vaccine and vice versa.
Stay tuned for more ways to unpack the new data, reports and discussion from AIDS 2024 including an upcoming webinar focused on what’s next in lenacapavir for PrEP advocacy.
LEN in the Spotlight at AIDS 2024
Zero Infections!
Midpoint at #AIDS2024 in Munich, one of the most significant advances in HIV prevention in the history of the response, the efficacy of lenacapavir as PrEP, was presented at the Co-Chair’s Choice session. The findings, zero infections and 100% efficacy among the trial participants in the PURPOSE 1 trial, brought a standing ovation.
Presented by Linda-Gail Bekker of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, PURPOSE I enrolled 5,300+ cisgender adolescent girls and young women (ages 16-26) in South Africa and Uganda. PURPOSE 1 also evaluated daily oral emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (F/TAF) for PrEP, which was shown to be safe. Overall adherence in the F/TAF arm of the trial was low and the intervention did not show overall efficacy. But, among those trial participants with medium to high adherence (2-4 doses per week), data showed a significantly lower chance of HIV infection compared to participants with low adherence.
The introduction of oral PrEP has changed the lives of more than 6 million people globally who have accessed it. Despite the promise of PrEP, many young women have found the uptake of daily adherence and persistence to daily PrEP a social, emotional and physical challenge. We need new and diverse PrEP options,” said Bekker.
For more on PURPOSE 1 and the rest of the PURPOSE program evaluating lenacapavir across diverse populations, see AVAC’s primer for advocates, The Lens on LEN.
So now the work must accelerate.
New UNAIDS data released at the meeting calculated that 44% of all new HIV acquisitions were among women and girls in 2023 globally, and young women in Africa accounted for 62% of new HIV acquisitions, making the case that there are millions of women in urgent need of HIV prevention and who must be given the opportunity to benefit from every proven method of HIV prevention.
Data for key populations is just as stark. The latest data from UNAIDS points to marginalization, discrimination and criminalization as drivers pushing the median prevalence of HIV in 2023 to be much higher than the global average among sex workers, gay men and other men who sex with men, and transgender people (3%, 7.7% and 9.2% higher respectively than the global adult prevalence of .8%).
All these populations represent individuals with unique and evolving needs. No single prevention product will ever be a miracle drug. People need real choices in programs tailored to reach them. Implementers, policymakers, donors, advocates and communities must collaborate for the speedy, reliable delivery of every option. Check out AVAC’s statement calling for early planning to accelerate LEN’s regulatory review and for ambitious introduction plans, and the joint civil society call to action with specific priorities about what needs to happen next.
In a satellite session with advocates Wednesday, Winnie Byanyima of UNAIDS recommitted to the Choice Manifesto, a powerful declaration calling for continued political and financial support for more choice in HIV prevention. As Angeli Achrekar also of UNAIDS said at a subsequent session, “Both data and services need to be precisely tailored to the people who need prevention most, and we have to make solutions more affordable. We need a new HIV prevention revolution.”
We couldn’t agree more.
First Full Day of AIDS 2024
Lenacapavir for PrEP has taken center stage at the 25th International AIDS Conference, #AIDS2024, which opened Monday with many highlighting its potential for long-acting PrEP for HIV prevention. Some advocates took to the halls in protest calling on LEN’s maker to price the product low. Leaders across HIV voiced the need for urgency in galvanizing support for the introduction of lenacapavir. “It is gobsmackingly exciting to see zero in a clinical trial” AVAC’s Mitchell Warren told Forbes. The potential to bend the curve of the epidemic depends on speeding access to prevention options like LEN, that show high efficacy.
At the same time, it’s imperative to remember that neither lenacapavir, nor any other single product, now or in the future, will ever be a ‘miracle drug’, and LEN must not be equated with a vaccine, as seen in some conference media reports.
Ongoing investment in the pipeline for HIV prevention must be founded on the principle of choice, offering a range of products to meet diverse needs among people facing the risk of HIV. We hope that vaccines will one day be among those choices, as will long and short-acting products, and topical and systemic products. Clear communication that allows product users to understand how products are different supports widespread adoption of HIV prevention and moves the world toward finally ending the epidemic.
See AVAC’s statement calling for early planning to accelerate LEN’s regulatory review and for ambitious introduction plans, and the joint civil society call to action with specific priorities about what needs to happen next. Our primer, the Lens on LEN, also offers advocates a guide in explaining the findings from the Purpose 1 trial and next steps for advocacy.
As Albert Liu from UCSF’s Center for AIDS Research told delegates in the symposium on breakthrough and insights in long-acting technologies, “It’s never just the ‘product.’ New options can’t solve everything.” Atul Gawande of USAID reiterated a similar message at the satellite focused on women’s prevention, “The critical message to understand is that there isn’t going to be a magic bullet for prevention. What we have to understand is that there are also considerations that affect the likelihood that women will have what they want and what they’re likely to use.”
People First
The conference theme, “Put People First,” is the main message we all must hear. Lillian Mworeko of the International Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS East Africa (ICWEA) captured the essence of the meeting: “I am not just a recipient of care. I need a seat at the table to meaningfully engage and tell people what I need and how I need it.”
Monday’s opening session underscored the vital role of community engagement and the necessity for inclusive policies that address disparities affecting marginalized populations. Jay Mulucha of Fem Alliance, Uganda, the first trans man to speak at the International AIDS Conference, delivered a compelling message to the 12,000+ delegates attending both in person and online: “As a trans man living in Uganda, I am asking you to stop leaving us behind. Nothing about us, without us.”
New UNAIDS Report
UNAIDS released a report, The Urgency of Now, AIDS at a Crossroads calling out funding disparities and the need to dismantle the discrimination and stigma that are pushing the most marginalized people away from health care. The report warned of the peril in delayed funding decisions; investment needs to happen urgently for long-acting treatment and prevention options to reach all low- and middle-income countries and meet 2025 targets.
Money, Money, Money
Making the most of investment in HIV prevention fundamentally depends on political will, but the field needs the right data, too. Monday’s satellite session, Money, money, money: Building towards a sustainable end state for HIV prevention, called for better data that goes beyond PrEP initiation numbers. “[PrEP initiations] alone do not tell us how much product is needed or how long people stay on PrEP. We are not collecting the right data,” said Katherine Kripke of Avenir Health. AVAC’s Mitchell Warren described the vicious cycle of small pilot projects generating limited data on PrEP use, resulting in unpredictable demand and cautious investment. “We have lots of small examples, and then we don’t scale it up because governments don’t know what it will cost. And still the world has 1.3 million new infections. We have to break the cycle.”
Sharon Hillier of Magee-Women’s Research Institute noted, “What we’ve learned in our research is that women care about efficacy, but it’s just one element of what they consider when they decide on prevention. They’re quite interested in safety, ease of use, discretion, price, availability, and accessibility.”
Stay tuned for more highlights from AIDS 2024 and visit our curated conference webpage, which includes new resources and summaries of the preconference sessions.
AIDS 2024 Preconference Highlights
AIDS2024, this year’s annual conference of the International AIDS Society opened with a spotlight on troubling trends. A series of preconferences took on critical topics including supporting key populations in a time of increasing discrimination; new and novel research and implementation of STI prevention and treatment, witnessing a soaring rise in incidence; and the importance of implementing new PrEP options to create more choice for people who need HIV prevention most.
Key Populations at the Center of the Response
Breaking Barriers: Insights and Realities from Key Populations in HIV Prevention, organized by Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC) and AVAC, featured the voices of speakers representing migrants, people who inject drugs, sex workers and LGBTQI+ people and the release of a new report, Making Rights a Reality: A GBGMC Roadmap. GBGMC executive director and former AVAC staffer, Micheal Ighodaro said the report challenges the “misinformation and complacency that assume the world can achieve HIV sustainability, biomedical HIV prevention progress and global health security without key populations’ leadership and insight.”
AVAC’s Cindra Feuer offered context on impending reductions in global spending on the HIV response, occurring not because resources are limited but because of waning interest. Inform your advocacy with AVAC and GBGMC’s 2023 Global HIV Prevention Roadmap for Key Populations.
AVAC’s Kenyon Farrow presented on why researchers, implementers and community advocates can and should all play a role in shaping the PrEP pipeline, and how innovation in the pipeline should be implemented.
Why STIs Matter
The preconference, Mobilize for Action on Sexually Transmitted Infections addressed the urgent need to confront the global spike in STI rates, particularly syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis. Epidemiological data shows alarming growth in STI rates, and speakers discussed the morbidity and mortality that they’re causing, and an underfunded infrastructure for researching new diagnostics, antibiotics, vaccines and other treatments.
Perhaps no more sobering of a statement was made than by Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of NIAID, when discussing the number of global deaths from something as treatable as syphilis. “I think some of the more staggering statistics here, in addition to the sheer number of new infections, is the fact that we had in 2022 over 200,000 syphilis-associated deaths, which to me is practically medieval.”
In addition to research for new treatments and increases in STI program funding, Alison Footman, AVAC’s senior program manager of STIs said it’s equally important to strengthen the capacity and role of community advocates in fighting STIs.
“AVAC partners with many organizations across East and Southern Africa who are raising the profile of STI advocacy. From their guidance, we know there’s a need for community advisory boards [to be] involved in STI research. It can and will improve essential research.”
Alison Footman, AVAC
A rigorous debate explored the question of implementing DoxyPEP, given there’s no efficacy data for cisgender women in light of fears of creating drug resistant strains of STIs from wider use of doxycycline. Strong arguments were made on both sides, but this controversy is one of the reasons AVAC recently published an Advocate’s Guide to Doxycycline to Prevent STIs.
Cure and the Next Berlin Patient
With researchers announcing what appears to be the seventh person potentially cured of HIV following a stem cell transplant, a preconference on cure research, Towards a Truly Global HIV Cure, captured a feeling of momentum driving cure research today. Donors discussed new investments in African-based infrastructure and initiatives. Scientists explained where cure research is headed in both adult and pediatric populations. But none of these topics were more important than comments from a South African participant in the FRESH cohort trial that includes an analytic treatment interruption, one of the first in Africa, emphasizing that a strong commitment to communication was the foundation to building the trust necessary for these trials. ”Sharing strategies for communication and advocacy across the field of HIV cure research will be essential for it to advance.”
PrEP Choice
With interim results of the PURPOSE 1 HIV prevention study of injectable lenacapavir (LEN) for PrEP among cisgender women and adolescent girls recently announced, the expanding landscape of PrEP options was the focus of Welcome to the Era of PrEP Choice. Organized by the Gates Foundation, Unitaid, USAID, and the World Health Organization, the message from this session echoed throughout the various presentations: Everyone has a role to play in expanding access to real choices for all who need and want them. Putting in place the right programs, policies and investment to deliver choices at scale and bend the curve of the epidemic utterly depends on a commitment to integrated, equitable, people-centered, and community-led approaches. See the latest quarterly update from The Coalition to Accelerate Access to Long-Acting PrEP, AVAC’s recent webinar on monitoring for PrEP choice to improve and simplify data, and the new Lens on LEN, an advocates guide explain the findings from Purpose 1 and next steps for advocacy.
Stay tuned for more highlights from AIDS 2024 and visit our curated conference webpage for new resources and ways to navigate #AIDS2024 including our roadmap.
