Avac Event

Using the COMPASS Campaign Advocacy Assessment Tool (C-CAAT) to assess the effectiveness of advocacy campaigns

This webinar is for all COMPASS coalition members, partners, stakeholders and individuals taking on advocacy in various fields.

By the end of the webinar participants are expected to have an improved capacity on how to reflect on advocacy outcomes (positive and negative) individually and collectively with relevant stakeholders and partners; enhanced ability to identify, describe and document advocacy outcomes in a clear and structured manner; and an improved capacity to identify follow up actions/tactics needed to achieve the advocacy goal or respond in the event of a setback.

Avac Event

From the Lab to the Jab: Lessons learned and what’s next in HIV vaccine research

AVAC’s issue briefs, From the Lab to the Jab, cover the barriers to, and solutions for equitable access to vaccines in low- and middle-income countries. During this webinar, an expert panel discussed lessons learned, an international initiative for vaccine development, and how research and access can be improved.

Moderators:

  • Mitchell Warren, AVAC
  • Tracy Swan, AVAC and Make Medicines Affordable Campaign

Panelists:

  • Dr. Jerome Kim, International Vaccine Institute
  • Dr. Els Torreele, æqua
  • Othoman Mellouk, International Treatment Preparedness Coalition

Recording / Dr. Jerome Kim Slides / Dr. Els Torreele Slides / Othoman Mellouk Slides

Avac Event

HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections: Progress and gaps

13:00 – 14:30 CEST PM

Please join this webinar being held in the run up to the 77th World Health Assembly.

The World Health Organization (WHO) will launch a publication, which describes progress and gaps identified during the first two years of implementing the global health sector strategies on HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) for 2022-2030.

Moderators will ask key leaders in the responses to HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs how we can increase visibility, political will and community activism to accelerate action.

Panelists include:

  • Jérôme Salomon, WHO, Switzerland
  • Jessica Hicks, World Hepatitis Alliance, United Kingdom
  • Maureen Luba, AVAC, Malawi
  • Meg Doherty, WHO, Switzerland
  • Patty Garcia, Cayetano Heredia University, Peru
  • Philippe Duneton, Unitaid, Switzerland
  • Sabin Nsanzimana, Ministry of Health, Rwanda (TBC)

The conversation will be moderated by Charles Gore from the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and Birgit Poniatowski from IAS – the International AIDS Society.

The webinar is organized by IAS – the International AIDS Society – and its partners, WHO, Medicines Patent Pool and Unitaid.

Avac Event

Analysis & Impact of the Ugandan Constitutional Court Ruling on HIV Services

Please join us for a deep dive into the recent ruling on the Anti-Homosexuality Act by the Ugandan Constitutional Court, with a focus on implications for HIV programs in Uganda and beyond, and connections to the US Supreme Court Dodds decision.

Speakers Include:

  • Andrea Gillespie, Associate Director of Global Advocacy, Human Rights Campaign
  • Maureen Milanga, Director International Policy and Advocacy, Health GAP
  • Ugandan activist TBC

Avac Event

PrEP and the Role of HIV Self-Testing

HIV self-testing (HIVST) is a safe, accurate, and effective alternative to provider-administered testing that many users prefer for its convenience and confidentiality. At IAS 2023, WHO issued a new recommendation to offer HIVST for PrEP initiation and continuation as an innovative way to increase PrEP access and coverage and further simplify PrEP delivery. However, many implementers still have questions on how to effectively roll out and scale up this important self-care intervention.

On May 23, AVAC and WHO hosted a webinar to learn more about WHO guidance on use of HIVST and to hear directly from a panel of experts on their experiencing rolling out HIVST for PrEP, guidance on procurement and costing, and more.

Recording / Slides

Avac Event

The Importance of HPV Vaccination Among People Living with HIV

HPV vaccination prevents 6 types of cancer and genital warts, including cervical cancer. Women living with HIV are up to six times more likely to develop invasive cervical cancer than their HIV-negative peers, but HPV immunization rates among this population remain low. During World Immunization Week, AVAC and TogetHER for Health co-hosted a discussion to learn more about the science behind and implementation challenges specific to expanding access to HPV vaccination for people living with HIV.

  • Mandisa Dukashe, HIV Survivors and Partners Network
  • Dr. Betty Njoroge, Kenya Medical Research Institute
  • Dr. Christopher Morgan, Jhpiego

This webinar was co-hosted with TogetHER for Health

Recording / Mandisa Dukashe Slides / Dr. Betty Njoroge Slides / Dr. Christopher Morgan Slides

Avac Event

We Can’t End HIV in the United States Without Equitable PrEP Access: Strategies for success

A collaboration between HIVMA, PrEP4All and The Choice Agenda, this webinar assessed some of the key challenges to delivering PrEP in the United States equitably, including cost, the complexities of our health care system, and other factors that inhibit uptake amongst the most vulnerable communities. Strategies to address these challenges were offered included a Q&A, discussion and much-needed debate.

Speakers:
• Dr. Lorraine Dean, Johns Hopkins University, Department of Epidemiology 
• Dr. Rupa Patel, Division of HIV Prevention, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Dr. Patrick Sullivan, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University 

Moderator:
Dr. Greg Millet, amfAR

Recording / Slides / Resources

Avac Event

Discussing Early Results from the SEARCH Dynamic Choice Study

AVAC and the SEARCH team were joined by Professor Moses Kamya of Makerere University to find out why the early results of the SEARCH Dynamic Choice study were some of the most exciting to come out of CROI in 2024.

Conducted in Kenya and Uganda, the study offered oral PrEP, PEP or injectable cabotegravir to both men and women, and an option to switch products. Prevention services were person-centered, including access to a clinician by phone at any time, clinic and community access to services, and counseling to develop personalized adherence plans. Coverage among study participants increased to 70% (compared to 13% in the standard of care), 28% of participants used two different products during the study, and the study arm ended with zero incidence of HIV compared to 1.8% in the control group. These numbers show why adding to the method mix expands the number of people who continue with prevention—even as their needs change.

The webinar consisted of a presentation by Professor Kamya, followed by a robust discussion about the role of choice in HIV prevention.

Avac Event

Watching the Watcher: Intersections of surveillance and criminalization in HIV and reproductive health care

The timing above is ET. Please click here to determine the time in your region.

Co-sponsored by the Positive Women’s Network-USA and The Choice Agenda, this webinar featured conversations with leaders in digital technology, HIV advocacy, and abortion criminalization to examine the existential threat of our ongoing blurred boundaries between public health and policing. We dove deeply into the ways that surveillance and criminalization of public health in two specific areas – HIV and reproductive health care – exacerbate structural racism, misogyny, transmisia, ableism and other forms of discrimination. We discussed how intrusive data collection without consent violates privacy rights and can discourage people from seeking the health care that they need. We also explored shared demands to protect health data privacy, bodily autonomy and human rights.

Speakers:
• Alex McClelland, Carleton University, Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization
• Allan Maleche, Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN)
• Arneta Rogers, Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice (CRRJ) at UC Berkeley School of Law

Moderator:
Naina Khanna, Positive Women’s Network-USA

Recording / Slides / Resources

Avac Event

The More We Know: Evolving our understanding of PrEP for cisgender women

Science and real-world experience continue to demand a re-assessment of our collective understanding of the safety and effectiveness of PrEP options for women, including oral, vaginal ring, and injectable options. For instance, a new paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo (HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis with Emtricitabine and Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate Among Cisgender Women) challenges the notion, baked into policies, programs and “conventional wisdom”, that cisgender women need to be “super-adherers” to achieve protection utilizing oral PrEP. In this webinar, we discussed this important paper and more.

Speakers:
• Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• Joyce Ng’ang’a, WACI Health

Moderator:
Raniyah Copeland, Equity & Impact Solutions

Materials:
Recording / Ukrainian Audio / Slides / Resources / Audio Transcript (English/Ukrainian)