Community-Led Monitoring: Transforming the HIV response in Malawi

For several years now, Community-Led Monitoring has been on the rise in the HIV response, and particularly in East and Southern Africa. Known as CLM for short, it’s a tactic being championed and implemented to ensure that communities play a direct role in monitoring and improving HIV services.

In this episode of PxPulse: The Advocacy Chronicles we delve into CLM in Malawi, where civil society and communities are successfully using this approach to connect government decision makers to the gaps in HIV services and to what people really need. Thanks to persistent advocacy, both PEPFAR and Global Fund now recognize, through their funding, the critical role of CLM.

The episode features David Kamkwamba, a journalist and health advocate and the former chair of the Civil Society Advocacy Forum on HIV and related diseases, commonly known as CSAF tells us what advocates have accomplished in Malawi and just how they did it. CSAF and AVAC are partners in the Coalition to Build Momentum, Power, Activism, Strategy & Solidarity (COMPASS) which has supported extensive work on community-led monitoring in Malawi and across the region.

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Download the full podcast (19:55) or listen below.

Resources

Gears of Lenacapavir for PrEP Rollout 

The Gears of Lenacapavir for PrEP Rollout outlines a transformative opportunity in the global fight against HIV, coming at a pivotal moment when the scale-up of PrEP has shown remarkable progress but remains insufficient to achieve a transformational impact on HIV incidence and the trajectory of the epidemic. This effort demands a coordinated response from governments, donors, civil society, and the private sector to ensure rapid implementation, equitable access, and sustainable impact. By leveraging lessons from previous PrEP interventions, aligning financing mechanisms, and prioritizing underrepresented regions, stakeholders can overcome systemic barriers and maximize the public health potential of this innovative long-acting prevention tool.

With anticipated regulatory approvals and production scaling, the plan targets over 2.5 million LEN users in low- and middle-income countries by 2027. With a focus on addressing structural barriers like stigma, healthcare inequities, and restrictive policies, alongside integrating generics into national programs, the roadmap aims to build on existing progress while accelerating the pace of HIV prevention. 

The Gears Framework for Lenacapavir for PrEP Rollout

The gears framework for lenacapavir scale-up brings together a coalition of essential stakeholders, each contributing to the successful, sustainable integration of this HIV prevention tool into global health systems.

Excerpted from the Gears of Lenacapavir for PrEP Rollout report.

Clinical Trial Designs in HIV Prevention

An introductory slide deck covering the basics of trial design in product development — definitions, phases, randomized control trials, and more.

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An Advocacy Chronicle on Universal Healthcare in Tanzania, with Atuswege Mwangomale of Sikika

In this episode of PxPulse: The Advocacy Chonicles, Atuswege Mwangomale goes deep on the advocacy work behind the passage of Tanzania’s Universal Healthcare Law. Atu serves as Head of Health Programs for Sikika, a Tanzania-based advocacy organization with a long track record of promoting best practices in governmental financing in the health sector, and advocating for improved health outcomes. Sikika, along with AVAC, is also a member of the COMPASS coalition, which uses data and coalitions across Africa to identify strategic campaigns to advance the HIV response. 

Sikika’s advocacy has been crucial to the ultimate passage of Tanzania’s Universal Health Insurance Bill in 2023, but full funding must still be secured for the law to achieve full impact.  

Atu explains the promise of UHC in Tanzania, how Sikika won the trust of government allies, and why working in coalition was essential to success.

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Resources

People’s Research Agenda

Community & Advocacy Priorities in HIV Prevention Research Development

Led by AVAC alongside a network of partners, the People’s Research Agenda puts forward recommendations to diversify and strengthen the HIV prevention pipeline, enhance investment and financial support for HIV prevention research and development, and guide an advocacy strategy that truly addresses the needs of communities across the prevention pipeline.

The PRA is a living document developed through intentional consultative processes that used multiple modalities, including surveys, focus groups, convenings, to gather insights about the processes and products needed to actualize HIV prevention justice.

In this summary of the People’s Research Agenda, you’ll find the PRA’s core insights into the processes involved in HIV prevention research and implementation, and the types of products that should be developed through these processes.

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Oral PrEP Prices in LMICs

This chart tracks pricing for oral PrEP as tenofovir disoproxil and emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) as compared to generic pricing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) since 2005.

PrEP Initiations by Country Worldwide

AVAC tracks global PrEP use by conducting quarterly surveys of ongoing oral PrEP demonstration and implementation projects, and collecting data from manufacturers and government agencies. This graphic shows data on PrEP initiations around the globe. For more trends in oral PrEP uptake, visit PrEPWatch.

An Advocate’s Guide to Research in Pregnant and Lactating Populations

A resource that provides background on the need for research in pregnant and lactating populations and how advocates can advance inclusion.

Moving a Product to the “Real World”

A visual roadmap illustrating the key stages transitioning a product from clinical trials to large-scale real-world implementation.