Avac Event

Illinois PrEP Summit 2024: Disrupting Disparities and Advancing Access

The conference focuses on advancing biomedical HIV prevention to help achieve Getting to Zero by 2030. Key summit goals include improving access, addressing disparities, fostering research and promoting community engagement. Join us for in-person sessions covering strategies, policies and implementation research.

This conference is curated by AFC, MATEC, PrEP4Teens and Project VIDA.

Registration closes, June 7, 2024.

Avac Event

What’s Next for the Pandemic Accord? A civil society and communities perspective

13:30-15:00PM Geneva Time

This side event featured expert panelists discussing what’s promising in the Pandemic Accord, what we expect from governments, and what’s missing for successful implementation. Selected panelists came from different health areas but all have experience in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.

This panel also helped civil society prepare for the coming year and gain capacity to meaningfully engage in advocacy around implementation of the Accord. 

This event was co-sponsored with Care and Frontline AIDS. This in-person meeting will be recorded and the recording will be posted on this page following the event.

Avac Event

Global Key Populations HIV Prevention Pre-Conference

The Global Key Populations HIV Prevention Pre-Conference is a groundbreaking pre-conference, aimed at revolutionizing HIV prevention for key populations and LGBTQI communities, is set to take place in Munich, Germany, on July 20th, 2024. Organized by the Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC) in collaboration with the Key Population Advisory Group, AVAC, Coalition PLUS, and Fierté Afrique Francophone this event is a critical precursor to the 25th International AIDS Conference.

Avac Event

CROI 2024

The 31st annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI)  took place from March 3-6 in Denver, Colorado. CROI is the go-to forum for groundbreaking science in the HIV field, and this years’ program was full of exciting new research.

AVAC Daily Dispatches

AVAC sent out daily dispatches summarizing each day’s news out of CROI:

Community Breakfast Clubs

The CROI Community Liaisons, AVAC, the European AIDS Treatment Group, and partners for daily Community Breakfast Clubs organized the daily Community Breakfast Club. These virtual webinars featured researchers and advocates discussing some of the most consequential science being presented at CROI.

Recordings and transcripts available here.

Avac Event

Advocacy Navigator Info Session – Mentors

This session is intended for any AVAC alumni interested in applying to become a mentor for the Advocacy Navigator program. The session will provide an overview of the program, expectations, eligibility, and application process, followed by Q&A with the AVAC team.

Avac Event

Advocacy Navigator Info Session – Navigators

This session was intended for anyone interested in applying to the Advocacy Navigator program. The session provided an overview of the program, expectations, eligibility, and application process, followed by Q&A with the AVAC team.

Avac Event

African Workshop on HIV & Women 2024

The inaugural edition of the African Workshop on HIV & Women will take place in hybrid format on 22 – 23 February 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya.

The time zone that will be used for this meeting is East Africa Time (EAT). If you need to convert the times to your timezone, this website might be of interest to you: www.WorldTimeBuddy.com.

This exciting new initiative is a regional workshop paired to the annual “International Workshop on HIV & Women”. It is an outstanding opportunity for both local and international healthcare providers, researchers, government, industry, and community representatives to discuss and further increase their knowledge on the issues related to HIV and women living in Africa.

The primary purpose of this workshop is to support changes that will provide a better quality of life for women living with HIV and reduce HIV transmissions in the region.

The format of the workshop enables attendees to learn from renowned HIV experts, discuss challenges, gaps, and opportunities for further learning and research. The debates and roundtables are an especially important vehicle to discuss issues and challenge dogma.

The workshop also provides a forum for early-career investigators to present their research and to personally meet with experts they view as mentors and inspiration for their work.

The meeting organizers hope this workshop will catalyze forming a community, where attendees continue to participate yearly and form valuable relationships and partnerships that lead to collaborative projects and positive changes.

Regular fee deadline, February 8.

Avac Event

Foundations of HIV Cure Research

In advance of the Strategies for an HIV Cure meeting, AVAC is hosting a foundational training for lay audiences interested in building their knowledge of HIV cure research. Through interactive sessions led by leading experts in the field, the meeting will provide attendees the ability to understand and translate basic science information.

The program will feature: Janet Siliciano, Deborah Persaud, Steven Deeks, Rebecca Lynch and David Margolis.

Recording of Dr. Janet Siliciano Presentation / Recording of Dr. Adam Ward Presentation / Recording of Dr. Deeks, Dr. Persaud, Dr. Joseph, Dr. Jones Presentation

Avac Event

ICASA 2023

Join AVAC and partners for the biennial International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (ICASA), in Harare, Zimbabwe December 4-9. More than 30 of our partners will convene at the meeting to champion community leadership and amplify their role in shaping local, national and global responses and delivering impactful advocacy. Community leadership on a range of issues are instrumental to: 

  • Accelerate and expand access to proven prevention options that people want and need. 
  • Dismantle the structural barriers to health faced by key populations. 
  • Intensify demands for robust domestic and global funding for health. 
  • Integrate HIV services with sexual and reproductive health. 
  • And much more. 

Scroll down for a roadmap to ICASA’s prevention program, and details on sessions and events that you won’t want to miss. 

Sessions of Interest

Sunday, December 3

  • Biomedical Prevention Forum 
    9:00-15:00 GMT 
    The Biomedical Prevention Forum will be held as a hybrid event bringing together advocates, civil society representatives, researchers, government officials and front-line providers to explore and discuss the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities in biomedical HIV prevention, while emphasizing the importance of choice and its transformative impact on HIV prevention efforts. This is an open event. Register here. 
  • Key Populations Preconference 
    9:00-15:00 GMT 
    The Africa Key Populations Experts Group (AKPEG), African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA), the African Network of People Using Drugs (AfricanPUD) and African Queer Youth Initiative (AQYI) Advocates for Prevention of HIV and AIDS in Africa (APHA), Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC) and partners will host a safe platform to deliberate on the state of the HIV epidemic among Key Populations and to determine the stumbling blocks for progress on the path that ends AIDS for Key Populations.

Monday, December 4

Tuesday, December 5

  • Advancing Integrated Biomedical Prevention: Best Practices from Zimbabwe (Session 2) 
    8:45-09:30 GMT
    This satellite session will discuss best practices and lessons learned from the delivery of biomedical HIV prevention and Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision services as we work to further universal health coverage and robust health systems. Partners will launch a global call to action to unite, mobilize, and advocate for continued prioritized funding, sustained commitment, and strategic integration of VMMC into national and global prevention strategies.
  • Catalyzing a sustainable HIV prevention agenda: Approaches to expand local action on global commitments
    10:45-11:30 GMT
    Leveraging new strategic plans for HIV prevention, including the PEPFAR’s 5-year Strategy and UNAIDS’ Prevention Road Map, this satellite session will discuss combination prevention in the context of a sustainable HIV response and highlight a variety of approaches and models that leverage country and stakeholder-led innovations to meet the challenge.
  • Coordinating Implementation Science for CAB for PrEP: BioPIC’s Implementation Study Tracker 
    12:25-12:35 GMT
    In this oral abstract session, AVAC will present a new dashboard, which reflects all currently known activities relating to implementation research, modelling, clinical research, and landscaping for new late-stage biomedical HIV PrEP options, including cabotegravir for PrEP and the dapivirine vaginal ring.
  • Policy, Politics and HIV Management 
    13:05-13:50 GMT
    In this oral abstract session, Princess Mharire from Pangaea Zimbabwe AIDS Trust (PZAT) will present, Beyond Metrics: How the Simple Participatory Assessment of Real Change (SPARC) Tool Provides a Holistic Approach to Advocacy Measurement, and Joseph Njowa of PZAT will share the COMPASS MERL model in a presentation, Innovative tools for planning, monitoring, and evaluation of advocacy campaigns. 

Wednesday, December 7

Friday, December 8

  • Strengthen integration for better SRHR outcomes 
    10:45-11:30 GMT
    This concurrent session will feature Advocates for Prevention of HIV and AIDS in Africa’s (APHA) Yvette Raphael and will explore linkages between unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortion, and HIV.
  • HIV Prevention-Right Place, Right time 
    13:05-13:50 GMT
    This concurrent session will feature Maureen Luba of AVAC, Definate Nhamo of PZAT and Yvette Raphael of APHA. 

AVAC and Partner Poster Presentations

Tuesday, December 5 

  • Maximizing private pharmacies for PrEP delivery to increase uptake: Lessons learnt from the Community Retail Pharmacy Distribution Point, Ruth Akulu 

Wednesday, December 6 

  • Journalist Training: A Key Advocacy Strategy, Catherine Madebe
  • Perceptions on the new biomedical HIV prevention methods among adolescent girls and young women in tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe, Cleo Makura
  • Lessons from Crisis Response from TaNPUD in Enhancing Harm Reduction from 2015 to 2018, Marineus Mutongore
  • Implementing Community led Monitoring for improved quality of HIV services in Tanzania, Mathew Kawogo
  • Impact of social media exposure on HIV services uptake among Tanzanian Young people: Implications for enhancing the HIV response, Marineus Mutongore
  • Effective Strategies for Operating COWLHA support groups of Adolescents Living with HIV: Case of Mangochi and Chikwawa Districts of Malawi, Harry Madukani

Thursday, December 7 

  • Understanding Choice of HIV Prevention Options among Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) in Zambia, Natasha Mwila
  • Leveraging HIV to Build a Global Health Research and Development (R&D) Equity Advocacy Agenda, John Meade
  • Championing advocacy for domestic resource mobilization for health research and development in Africa, Ethel Makila

Friday, December 8 

  • Rural Youth: Underserved and Unsafe When Seeking Care, Liyema Somnono
  • Redefining Coalition Governance and Leadership in Support of Decolonizing Global Health: The Evolution of the COMPASS Coalition, Roberta Sutton
  • Collaborative Monitoring & Evaluation to Support Learning and Strengthen Advocacy Coalitions: The MERL Hub, Grace Tetteh
  • Realities faced by street children predisposing them to HIV and STIs in Dodoma and Dar es Salaam Cities in Tanzania, Simon Shilagwa 

Avac Event

SA AIDS 2023

June 20, 2023

Taking place in Durban from June 20-23, the theme of the 11th South Africa AIDS Conference (SA AIDS) is “act, connect and end the epidemic”.

Registration and Draft Program
Register for the conference and view the draft program.

Research Literacy Networking Zone
At the conference, AVAC and a number of partners will be hosting the Research Literacy @ Networking Zone. More information available here.

Follow Along From Near and Far
Watch this space and/or sign up for our Advocates’ Network mailing list to stay-up-date on the latest at SA AIDS 2023. AVAC will also be posting from the conference on Twitter. Click here for the official SA AIDS Twitter account.