Special Issue of BJOG on Multipurpose Technologies

This week a new issue of the journal BJOG: An international Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology published a suite of articles (all open access) on the future of “multipurpose” options that would provide both contraception and protection against HIV and/or other sexually transmitted infections. It is a strong series of updates related to the science and policy of new product development and an excellent overview of the state of play of this critical area of work.

For decades, advocates working on both HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health have spoken about the need for strategies that multiple issues, multiple needs. This is true for all people—our bodies require many types of care and treatment, and the more places we have to go to get what we need, the more likely it is that something… doesn’t get taken care of. It is particularly true for women, who have urgent needs for HIV prevention and contraception that is safe, effective and discrete. HIV positive women have similar needs—that extend to HIV treatment that works with their contraception.

The contributions include one from Helen Rees, leader of the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute and long-time women’s health advocate Anna Forbes on “Policy implications for multipurpose prevention technologies service delivery“. AVAC Executive Director contributed a piece, “Condoms: the multipurpose prevention technologies that already exist“. The full volume is also available.

A blog post on the issues quotes Heather Boonstra, Director of Public Policy at the Guttmacher Institute, Washington, DC, USA, and lead author of the review paper:

“The evidence strongly indicates that providing women with effective new tools to simultaneously prevent unwanted pregnancy as well as STIs and HIV is essential. However, just developing these methods is not enough. They need to be designed and marketed in a way that meets the needs and respects the rights of women and their partners. Ultimately, MPTs will only be viable options if women actually use them.

“To succeed, MPTs must adequately address concerns that cause many women to reject other modern contraceptive methods, taking into account women’s perceptions of risk for unintended pregnancy, HIV and other STIs. Any successful strategy must also acknowledge that women’s needs change over time, and a suite of MPT options may be needed to provide women with choices.”

Px Wire July-September 2014, Vol. 7, No. 3

Px Wire is AVAC’s quarterly update covering the latest in the field of biomedical HIV prevention research, implementation and advocacy. This issue comes out on the eve of the International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia—and we begin with “AVAC’s Take” on key messages and commitments to look for at and after the meeting. We also call for more PrEP demonstration projects and provide an update of the proposed ECHO trial.

Px Wire October-December 2014, Vol. 7, No. 4

Px Wire is AVAC’s quarterly update covering the latest in the field of biomedical HIV prevention research, implementation and advocacy. In this issue, we offer a selective “state of the union” update on various areas of the prevention field—highlighting key developments, messages and areas of work that warrant particular joint attention at the first HIV Research for Prevention (HIV R4P) conference and beyond.

Homophobic legislation and its Impact on Human Security

This report by the MSMGF explores the circumstances around the enactment of new anti-homosexual legislation in Nigeria and Uganda, examining five categories of insecurity faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the context of these laws.

Data Watch: Closing a Persistent Gap in the AIDS Response

In this update to the 2012 Action Agenda to End AIDS, amfAR and AVAC argue that critical and expensive decisions made with incomplete data can undermine the response to the AIDS epidemic—even as the systems for collecting these data continue to improve. The report describes the issues and identifies critical areas where better, more complete data are needed to guide the key decisions for the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It also provides an update on prevention and treatment targets set in the Action Agenda.

Multipurpose Prevention Technologies for Reproductive Health

In May 2011, AVAC, USAID and CAMI convened a group of scientists to discuss and recommend strategies for accelerating the development of multipurpose prevention technologies for protection against unintended pregnancy, HIV and other STIs. This report includes the presentations and discussions from the meeting, as well as recommendations for next steps.

Facing Questions about Hormonal Contraceptives and HIV: What’s next in getting answers?

In this webinar we learned about and discussed proposed research to directly evaluate how different family planning methods might impact HIV risk.

Trial designs are actively being discussed and funding is being sought for such research—but there are many questions where advocates’ voices are needed: What should a trial look like? How can method mix (the range of available family planning options) be expanded for all women? What can be done to better integrate HIV and family planning in the meantime?

View the full webinar here

Rectal Microbicides Video Facilitator’s Guide

This guide is meant to be used as a preparation tool for people leading community discussions, workshops, or recruitment sessions who will be showing the educational video. Background information on rectal microbicide research and the clinical trial process is included in the guide.

Rectal Microbicides Video Facilitator’s Guide (Spanish)

This guide is meant to be used as a preparation tool for people leading community discussions, workshops, or recruitment sessions who will be showing the educational video in Spanish. Background information on rectal microbicide research and the clinical trial process is included in the guide.

Rectal Microbicides Video Facilitator’s Guide (Thai)

This guide is meant to be used as a preparation tool for people leading community discussions, workshops, or recruitment sessions who will be showing the educational video in Thai. Background information on rectal microbicide research and the clinical trial process is included in the guide.