Global Health Watch News Brief: Issue 1

The last week has brought an alarming series of developments affecting global health and human rights. Here’s a brief overview of critical changes and their implications:

  • Pause on PEPFAR and humanitarian programs: On Monday, US officials announced a suspension of all PEPFAR programs, threatening access to lifesaving HIV treatment and prevention for millions worldwide and jeopardizing decades of progress in global health. US officials were told to stop providing technical assistance to national ministries of health and PEPFAR’s data and computer systems were taken offline. On Tuesday, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, a longtime supporter of PEPFAR, approved an “Emergency Humanitarian Waiver”, allowing “life-saving medications” to continue to be delivered. However, official guidance on how to interpret the waiver is lacking and it’s unclear whether providing HIV treatment can resume.

    IMPLICATIONS: More than 20 million people living with HIV could lose access to treatment, with widespread job losses expected across multiple countries. Most urgently, the delivery of ARVs funded by PEPFAR has already been disrupted. According to an analysis from amfAR, 222,333 people start new ARVs daily, meaning that many individuals now face the life-threatening possibility of interrupted treatment. Beyond these immediate impacts, the broader cessation of ARVs for over 20 million people would have catastrophic consequences. 

    Learn more from amfAR’s Country Analysis on treatment, testing and other social determinants of health. 
  • Federal financial freeze: Also on Monday, the new administration issued (via the Office of Management and Budget, OMB) a freeze on federal financial assistance, which impacts funding for research, healthcare, diversity programs, and energy projects among other efforts. Democrats are arguing that the freeze is unlawful and would harm communities across the US. Some states are pursuing lawsuits. Due to substantial community backlash and legal challenges, the administration rescinded the memo in less than 24 hours. The administration meanwhile asserts the Executive Order is still in effect

    IMPLICATIONS: The President’s pause on foreign assistance at the State Department remains in effect. Most international health and humanitarian efforts remain frozen, except for those covered by the waiver for “life-saving medications” referenced above. Even as the status of these federal funding freezes are still being clarified, the administration can be expected to continue to pursue strategies to impound, rescind, and limit access to federal funding for public health research and programs, and use misinformation and rhetoric to justify these actions. 

    Listen to Mitchell Warren on the Bhekisisa podcast, Weaponising aid: The cruel ways of #Trump2025. 
  • USAID leadership shake-ups: The new administration has placed career USAID officials on administrative leave, including leaders who run USAID’s Bureau for Global Health, impeding HIV prevention and civil society support worldwide. In addition, many of the agency’s institutional support contractors (ISCs), who comprise more than 50% of the Global Health Bureau, have already been, or are expected to be, let go. Contractors at the State Department Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy (GHSD), including PEPFAR, were also laid-off Wednesday.

    IMPLICATIONS: This signals a deliberate effort by the administration to remove anyone seen as disloyal. Reports of loyalty tests for staff, including inquiries about their “moment of MAGA revelation,” reflect a broad-reaching plan to remove anyone or anything that could scrutinize the administration’s orders. Contractors at USAID and GHSD are essential to the Bureau’s operations, and their expulsion paralyzes the USAID, GHSD and PEPFAR.
  • Emerging threat as Uganda confirms new Ebola outbreak: Uganda’s Ministry of Health confirmed a new outbreak of the Ebola virus in its capital, Kampala. One death has been reported on Wednesday. This is the first outbreak since 2022, when it took four months to contain the spread of the virus.  

    IMPLICATIONS: The US intent to withdraw from the WHO and the suspension of communication with the US CDC, the country’s lead government agency, makes it impossible for infectious disease control to coordinate with their international counterpart to mitigate this threat.
  • National Institutes of Health employees may move to schedule F: In a publicly shared memo, employees of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) may be reclassified as “schedule F”, which strips them of key worker protections as civil servants. This move could allow the administration to dismiss or vet career employees and scientists based on their perceived loyalty to the administration’s political and ideological positions, including the research they oversee.  

    IMPLICATIONS: This shift could have a chilling effect on new researchers entering the field, potentially undermining the integrity and independence of scientific research. 
  • NIH clinical trials and participant travel continues with uncertainty: Despite NIH restrictions, clinical trials and participant travel to trial sites may still continue, according to an email to staff at the NIH from its Acting Director, Matthew Memoli. Scientists may also discuss ongoing research that was initiated before January 20, given there is no data sharing or public communication outside of those who are part of the research or its funding, leaving the impact on new research uncertain.

    IMPLICATIONS: Critical purchases and contracts related to human and animal health, security, and biosafety could proceed, but there are many unanswered questions, especially over the pause in grant reviews and funding decisions. 
  • Fighting the Global Gag Rule: One of the early actions of the new administration was the Executive Order to reinstate the Global Gag Rule. However, the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights Act, a bill to permanently end the Global Gag Rule, was reintroduced in the House and Senate on January 28, making this Act all the more important. AVAC and partners have endorsed the act. Read Congresswoman Lois Frankel’s statement here and watch this space for further updates.
  • Confirmation Hearings for Russell Vought, nominee for Director of Office of Budget and Management: Russell Vought may be selected to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), an influential office, which plays a key role in developing the annual budget request. In this position, Vought will essentially serve as a key gatekeeper, shaping the Executive Branch’s agenda. Confirmation hearings were scheduled for January 30. However, Democratic senators are demanding the vote be delayed, while debate escalates around federal domestic funding freeze.

    IMPLICATIONS: Vought, one of the authors of Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for reshaping the US government, is poised to implement the vision at the highest levels of government. If confirmed, he will have power over foreign assistance, research, and all the programs that save lives in the US and abroad. He will be able to accelerate firings, work stoppages, and withhold federal grants/funds already underway. His leadership represents a direct threat to public health and human rights.

    Live in the US? Call your Senator (202) 224-3121 to vote “no” on this confirmation and send a message to Washington that HIV prevention advocates stand firmly against Project 2025 and its writers.

In Case You Missed It

AVAC and PrEP4All urged donors at last week’s FCAA Summit to mobilize emergency funding and unite against these threats.Together, we can protect global health and human rights.

Read the opinion editorial in POZ Magazine.

What we’re reading

  • The New Yorker: Behind the Chaotic Attempt to Freeze Federal Assistance: Discusses the new administration’s attempt to freeze federal assistance, which led to widespread confusion and concern among federal agencies and aid organizations, highlighting the challenges and potential consequences of such a sudden policy shift. Discusses the new administration’s attempt to freeze federal assistance, which led to widespread confusion and concern among federal agencies and aid organizations, highlighting the challenges and potential consequences of such a sudden policy shift. 
  • Brownstone Institute: The State of Pandemic Preparedness, the WHO, and the US Withdrawal: Discusses the Executive Order withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO) and ceasing negotiations on the WHO Pandemic Agreement and International Health Regulations, highlighting concerns about the potential impact on global pandemic preparedness. 
  • Project Syndicate: Trump at Davos: Reviews the new presidential policies in a world of competing crises, eroding institutions, and increasing geopolitical instability and how these actions are accelerating these challenges. and how these actions are accelerating these challenges. 

Resources

Working in Solidarity: Join the effort to track the Impact 

Introducing Global Health Watch! Tracking US actions and their impact

The last week has been intense and sobering. As strategic and dedicated advocates, we already know the profound impact elections have on our work and our world. Recent developments in the United States underscore the challenges ahead, especially with the new administration’s alignment with the Project 2025 agenda—a playbook designed to reshape US federal agencies and policies drastically. 

There are already Executive Orders—which are directives issued by the President of the United States—that have significant implications for our collective work, in the US and around the world. This is, we fear, just the beginning. Administrative actions, such as pausing foreign assistance, including the lifesaving PEPFAR program; halting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; curtailing public communications; and “scrubbing” agency websites represent a systematic effort to control narratives and stifle dissent. And many of the Executive Orders from this past week are aimed at changing who is in control of information.  

Some of the new political and policy shifts that we are tracking and what they mean for the programs and systems that matter most to HIV prevention efforts, include:  

AVAC will continue to track these developments, analyze their implications, and convene and coordinate with partners to strategize responses. Beginning this week, we will share a weekly synthesis and insights report, Global Health Watch to help navigate this challenging terrain and ensure our advocacy for an evidence- and rights-based, equitable response to the HIV epidemic continues.  

In addition, AVAC and PrEP4All published a new commentary in POZ magazine asking philanthropic funders gathered at this week’s Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) Summit to adapt to these urgent threats. AVAC urges donor partners and advocates to support one another, and join together in an emergency effort, with immediate funding. As a united front, we can and must defend global health and human rights at this crucial time when collective action by donors, multilaterals, advocates and impacted communities is imperative.   

Stay strong, stay safe, and stay sane. It’s a long road ahead, but with our partnerships, we must persevere. 

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.

Listen

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

Resources

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.

Listen

Resources

A Year in the Life of GPP

What's actually happening, and how do we know it's working?

The Good Participatory Practice (GPP) Guidelines have been shaping and improving HIV prevention research since 2007. They provide a global reference guide for ethical and effective stakeholder engagement, helping ensure the priorities of trial participants and their communities are centered in clinical trials and broader research agendas.   

One year ago, AVAC published the Good Participatory Practice (GPP) Body of Evidence, an online clearinghouse of tools, best practices and analyses showcasing the power of GPP. Here, we bring you a report from the year since – how this clearinghouse of resources continues to demonstrate the value of GPP, and concrete examples from 2024 of GPP’s impact on major research agendas and mechanisms. Read on for highlights. 

Critical Learnings from GPP: The Body of Evidence Webinar Series

Throughout 2024, AVAC and partners facilitated a series of webinars in collaboration with The Global Health Network, Wellcome Trust, and WHO featuring resources housed in the Body of Evidence. These conversations expanded the traditional understanding of GPP—highlighting that GPP is not just about trial implementation; that its practices evolve from product discovery to delivery and are important at every step of the way; and that monitoring and evaluation are complex and critical nuances are required to ensure its meaningful application. Look out for a final webinar on elevation of GPP in global clinical trials guidance in 2025. The full recordings and presentations are on the AVAC website.  

View the webinar series
A Few of our Favorite Moments from the Webinar Series

One really important perspective would be to monitor the impact that engagement has on the trial, the way it’s run. That would be a really important aspect of monitoring and evaluation – to make note of the real changes that community stakeholders can have on the way trials are selected in the first place but also modified to make them appropriate. — Alun Davies, Global Health Network

Thinking about community engagement moving forward we need to think about building relationships over time and beyond particular studies. We need to make sure that we’re not only giving accurate information but we’re also listening and responding to issues that are being raised in the course of our interactions. — Sassy Molyneux, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust, University of Oxford

Our great leader Nelson Mandela said, ‘everything that is done for me, without me, is done against me,’ and we really must see our community members as having a role beyond that of as just a potential trial participant but to engage them right from the beginning, from the protocol design, from all our planning pre-study, the conduct of the study, and most important to the dissemination of the results—whether they be positive or negative. — Dr. Michelle Temeris, University of Capetown

How can we craft research questions so that when we have an answer at the end of the day it’s really something meaningful and impactful to communities? We can answer scientific questions that might be interesting to a researcher but at the end of the day that doesn’t get us very far if it’s not also equally impactful for community. — Sarah Read, US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

GPP in Action: Influencing Research Programs

Advocates’ Consultation on Merck’s Monthly Pill Program

In recent years HIV prevention efficacy trial design has become one of the hottest topics. As the HIV prevention toolbox improves, researchers, statisticians, and regulators grapple with the best way to incorporate these options into efficacy trials. The key to all of this, they say? Community.  

Enter GPP! In June, AVAC convened a community and advocates’ consultation with Merck around their program testing MK-8527 as a monthly pill for PrEP. With an efficacy program on the horizon, Merck set out to consult with communities—before any other stakeholder—about issues like choice of a comparator arm, the evolving standard of prevention, and how a trial could best reflect the reality of implementation in peoples’ countries, communities, and own lives. Consultation members consolidated feedback that is now being fed into Merck’s protocol development. Priorities included a design that would get to an efficacy answer most efficiently, but that would incorporate contextual issues of prevention choice as possible. Participants concluded that a monthly pill would be an important addition to the prevention toolkit, and thus support for the research program. But they also expressed ongoing frustration around community support for research that does not translate into access for their communities.  

Watch this space for further updates on the MK-8527 program, as engagement continues through protocol development, trial planning, implementation, and beyond!

Pediatric Adolescent Virus Elimination (PAVE) Community Advisory Board (CAB)

Communities have been a key stakeholder advancing HIV cure research from the bench to early phase clinical trials. GPP has been the guiding principle as engagement has moved further upstream.   

The Pediatric Adolescent Virus Elimination (PAVE) Community Advisory Board (CAB) is an example of this impact as the only group dedicated to advancing an HIV cure in pediatric populations. Through its digital Voices Project featuring young people with HIV, clinicians, caregivers and researchers, the CAB has raised awareness of the research among youth in Sub-Saharan Africa who engaged with ministries of health to push for the inclusion of children in research. They also worked with PAVE investigators to simplify and convey complex scientific and ethical issues inherent in cure research.  

As research moves from the bench to the clinic, the CAB and community partners, will continue to play a strategic role in shaping future protocol designs and addressing community support needs.  

Elevating GPP: WHO’s New Clinical Trials Guidance

In September, 2024, the World Health Organization published their new Guidance for Best Practices for Clinical Trials. The guidelines state that centering patient, participant, and community engagement will lead to more efficient and equitable trials. Input from AVAC and partners, including Wellcome Trust, The Global Health Network, University of Oxford, and others helped ensure the new guidance centered the importance of community engagement in creating more equitable and actionable clinical trials research. 

Save the Date

On December 13, 2024, WHO is hosting a webinar, WHO launches new clinical trials guidance – What do I need to know? Registration is free, and during the webinar WHO will highlight key areas of change in the guidance for everyone involved in clinical trials.  

Register

Since AVAC and UNAIDS launched the GPP guidelines in 2007, the science and politics have grown ever more complex—and GPP implementers have continued to adapt, evolve and engage. We are committed to continuing our efforts to curate insights and resources, including further building out the Body of Evidence, and to support our collective advocacy for ethical and effective stakeholder engagement throughout clinical trials, research agendas and implementation in the months and years to come. 

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.

PxPulse: The Votes are In — What’s next for the US’ role in global health and HIV prevention

KFF’s Jen Kates and AVAC’s Suraj Madoori lay out the challenges and the priorities in 2025 and beyond. 

In the days, months and years ahead under a new US Presidential Administration, advocacy for choice, freedom, science, and rights will require intentional strategies to protect hard fought gains in HIV treatment and prevention and in global health generally, and to safeguard policies and programs that advance it. And there will be major implications for the global AIDS response.

Navigating through the work ahead involves assessing the potential impact on PEPFAR and Global Fund support; on USAID, NIH, CDC and the FDA; on the US relationship to WHO and other UN agencies; and on evidence- and rights-based policies and programs generally. Joining us to begin those efforts and better understand the landscape for advocacy are Jen Kates from KFF and our own Suraj Madoori.

Listen

Resources

This Week at AVAC: US election, new LEN resources, STI pipeline and PrEP service delivery

As we continue to grapple with the results of the US presidential election and what this means for our work and for global health evidence- and rights-based policies and programs generally, we wanted to share a range of new tools and resources you may find helpful in your advocacy for choice, science and rights.

Injectable Lenacapavir for PrEP

Register


Additional LEN Resources

Webinars on the STI Pipeline, Advances in Research Ethics, and Money for the DVR and More!

Register

In Case You Missed It

Recording / Slides / DVR Early Market Access Vehicle page

And stay tuned for a new PxPulse podcast featuring Jen Kates of KFF and AVAC’s Suraj Madoori, The Votes Are In: What’s next for the US’ role in global health and HIV prevention. The podcast hits airways November 14.

STIWatch Newsletter, November 2024

The past few months have brought exciting developments in the field of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). The World Health Organization released the global priorities for STIs, which included the need to develop low-cost, rapid, STI point-of-care tests, vaccines, and communication strategies to increase STI awareness, prevention, service engagement. But we continue to see a soaring rise in STI incidence and an underfunded infrastructure for researching new treatment, prevention and testing tools. It’s up to the global community to ensure that research and development continues to see funding for better, faster, less expensive tools to reduce the toll of STIs. Read on for resources and insights to guide your advocacy.  

Conference updates

The annual conference of the International AIDS Society in July highlighted the troubling trend in the soaring rise in STI incidence. A 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. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of NIAID, when discussing the number of global deaths from syphilis, which is treatable, said, “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.” The meeting hosted a rigorous debate exploring 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. 

The STI Prevention Conference in Atlanta, Georgia convened attendees in-person for the first time in four years and discussed the rise in syphilis rates, emerging gonorrhea treatments, STI funding and policy initiatives, and doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (DoxyPEP). Notably, much discussion centered on NIAID’s support for a biorepository to advance diagnostic development. This biorepository would streamline access to necessary specimens to support the research and development of new diagnostics. 

Save the date

New resources

Discover STIWatch.org!

STIWatch.org is an updated platform designed to enhance understanding and advocacy for STI vaccine and diagnostics research, development, and rollout. It offers comprehensive information on common STIs, a clinical trials dashboard, advocacy priorities, and a range of resources and tools to support STI prevention and treatment efforts. 

STI Clinical Trials Dashboard

This dashboard provides information about trials focused on vaccines, diagnostics, and the use of doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (DoxyPEP) to detect, treat, and prevent chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, herpes simplex virus (HSV), human papillomavirus, syphilis, trichomoniasis infections, and Mycoplasma genitalium.

Webinar Summary

Regulatory Pathways to Promote Access to STI Diagnostics. This webinar co-hosted with World Health Organization (WHO) supported researchers, product developers and the global advocacy community in identifying and discussing ways to bring new STI diagnostics to market with speed, equity and scale.

What We’re Reading

  • Special Issue: Sexually Transmitted Diseases. This leading journal celebrated 50 years by publishing a series of editorials that review the careers of some of the leading experts in the field. These stories are both inspiring and enlightening, highlighting the decades of efforts and growth in addressing STIs. AVAC’s own, Alison Footman, PhD, wrote about her experiences in the STI field and how instrumental mentorship has been in her career growth.
     
  • Gonorrhea point-of-care diagnostics technology and market landscape. This landscape report provides an overview of gonorrhea point-of-care diagnostics that can be offered closer to patients and communities and limit time to results and ultimately treatment. Gonorrhea touches on multiple public health priorities including the need to reduce STI rates, growing antimicrobial resistance, and its impact on sexual and reproductive outcomes and HIV transmission. 
     
  • FDA Marketing Authorization Enables Increased Access to First Step of Syphilis Diagnosis. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the first syphilis self-test. This is a monumental step in expanding syphilis testing options as infections have increased drastically over the past five years. Self-tests can provide people with the option to learn their syphilis status and seek additional testing and treatment options from a healthcare provider. 

Partner Spotlight

AVAC partners have been busy moving the needle to improve STI prevention, testing, and treatment options in their respective countries. The Latu Human Rights Foundation partnered with HEP Initiative Zambia on a symposium to foster ideas on how to better address viral hepatitis and integrate hepatitis B interventions into other government funded health programs.

To learn more about AVAC’s STI Program, visit STIWatch.org and avac.org/sti. Email sti@avac.org for questions or additional information. And to sign up for specific updates on STIs, click here.

STIWatch Newsletter, November 2024

The past few months have brought exciting developments in the field of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). The World Health Organization released the global priorities for STIs, which included the need to develop low-cost, rapid, STI point-of-care tests, vaccines, and communication strategies to increase STI awareness, prevention, service engagement. But we continue to see a soaring rise in STI incidence and an underfunded infrastructure for researching new treatment, prevention and testing tools. It’s up to the global community to ensure that research and development continues to see funding for better, faster, less expensive tools to reduce the toll of STIs. Read on for resources and insights to guide your advocacy.  

Conference updates

The annual conference of the International AIDS Society in July highlighted the troubling trend in the soaring rise in STI incidence. A 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. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of NIAID, when discussing the number of global deaths from syphilis, which is treatable, said, “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.” The meeting hosted a rigorous debate exploring 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. 

The STI Prevention Conference in Atlanta, Georgia convened attendees in-person for the first time in four years and discussed the rise in syphilis rates, emerging gonorrhea treatments, STI funding and policy initiatives, and doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (DoxyPEP). Notably, much discussion centered on NIAID’s support for a biorepository to advance diagnostic development. This biorepository would streamline access to necessary specimens to support the research and development of new diagnostics. 

Save the date

New resources

Discover STIWatch.org!

STIWatch.org is an updated platform designed to enhance understanding and advocacy for STI vaccine and diagnostics research, development, and rollout. It offers comprehensive information on common STIs, a clinical trials dashboard, advocacy priorities, and a range of resources and tools to support STI prevention and treatment efforts. 

STI Clinical Trials Dashboard

This dashboard provides information about trials focused on vaccines, diagnostics, and the use of doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (DoxyPEP) to detect, treat, and prevent chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, herpes simplex virus (HSV), human papillomavirus, syphilis, trichomoniasis infections, and Mycoplasma genitalium.

Webinar Summary

Regulatory Pathways to Promote Access to STI Diagnostics. This webinar co-hosted with World Health Organization (WHO) supported researchers, product developers and the global advocacy community in identifying and discussing ways to bring new STI diagnostics to market with speed, equity and scale.

What We’re Reading

  • Special Issue: Sexually Transmitted Diseases. This leading journal celebrated 50 years by publishing a series of editorials that review the careers of some of the leading experts in the field. These stories are both inspiring and enlightening, highlighting the decades of efforts and growth in addressing STIs. AVAC’s own, Alison Footman, PhD, wrote about her experiences in the STI field and how instrumental mentorship has been in her career growth.
     
  • Gonorrhea point-of-care diagnostics technology and market landscape. This landscape report provides an overview of gonorrhea point-of-care diagnostics that can be offered closer to patients and communities and limit time to results and ultimately treatment. Gonorrhea touches on multiple public health priorities including the need to reduce STI rates, growing antimicrobial resistance, and its impact on sexual and reproductive outcomes and HIV transmission. 
     
  • FDA Marketing Authorization Enables Increased Access to First Step of Syphilis Diagnosis. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the first syphilis self-test. This is a monumental step in expanding syphilis testing options as infections have increased drastically over the past five years. Self-tests can provide people with the option to learn their syphilis status and seek additional testing and treatment options from a healthcare provider. 

Partner Spotlight

AVAC partners have been busy moving the needle to improve STI prevention, testing, and treatment options in their respective countries. The Latu Human Rights Foundation partnered with HEP Initiative Zambia on a symposium to foster ideas on how to better address viral hepatitis and integrate hepatitis B interventions into other government funded health programs.

To learn more about AVAC’s STI Program, visit STIWatch.org and avac.org/sti. Email sti@avac.org for questions or additional information. And to sign up for specific updates on STIs, click here.