Avac Event

PrEP In Black America: New Orleans

PrEP is a tool to effectively prevent HIV, but despite FDA approval in 2012, only 9 percent of Black people who could benefit from PrEP have received it. To address dismal PrEP utilization rates in the Black community, Black HIV prevention advocates convened in Atlanta, GA for the first PrEP In Black America Summit. With community input from the summit, we published “For Us, By Us: PrEP In Black America: A Master Plan For HIV Prevention In Black America” which outlined key recommendations for stakeholders to implement to increase racial equity in PrEP uptake.

Join Black HIV prevention advocates from across the U.S. for the second interactive PrEP In Black America Summit in New Orleans, LA on May 19, as we develop and build on existing strategies to increase PrEP access and awareness in the Black community.

Thanks to sponsorship from Red Hot Organization, registration for the summit is FREE, including a lunch. Due to a limit of 200 attendees, please register once you have confirmed that you will be able to attend in person on May 19, 2023. We will also have a live, interactive virtual option to attend. For more information, visit prep4all.org/prepinblackamerica.

More information including registration here.

Avac Event

Biomedical Px Summit

The 2023 Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit is coming to Las Vegas, April 11 – 12. Now in it’s seventh year, the Summit’s continuing focus has been on the implementation of biomedical tools in our prevention and treatment efforts to ultimately end the HIV epidemic in communities. To make real impacts, it’s important to learn about and from different communities. This year’s Summit will lean into sex and pleasure. Since sex is the main way that HIV is transmitted, we need to focus on consensual sex in all of its iterations. We’ll talk about kink, fetishes, sex work, etc. in an open, honest, and frank way. After all, if we can’t talk about sex, how can we talk about HIV prevention?

The Summit will feature sessions on the need for a National PrEP program, community participation in research, sex positivity, insurance for PrEP and other topics. Make sure to visit the Abstracts tab for the full listing of tracks and track descriptions. The abstract submission deadline is February 6. Stay tuned for information about the general abstract webinar on January 19.

We’re expecting over 1,400 people to join us this year. Summit attendees include leaders, advocates, and educators all interested in sharing ideas and learning about new approaches to maximize the use of biomedical HIV prevention methods. Make sure you’re there to exhibit or provide support as a sponsor to engage with these groups. Visit the Exhibits and Sponsors tabs to get more information and reserve a spot.

“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” This time, we want what happens in Vegas to influence HIV prevention all over the country.

More information including registration here.

Doxycycline for STI Prevention: Evidence and Current Research

Friday, October 7, 2022

Very high STI prevalence is being observed globally. Doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (dPEP) has been proposed as an STI prevention strategy to reduce chlamydia, syphilis, and possibly gonorrhea, and trials are ongoing among cisgender gay and bisexual men as well as African cisgender women. Learn about the latest scientific data and more during this Choice Agenda webinar.

Featuring Dr. Connie Celum, Jennifer Mahn, Dr. Victor Omollo, Rodney Perkins and Dr. Jenell Stewart

Recording / Slides / Resources

Picking Up the Pace

PrEP introduction is gaining traction around the world. Check out AVAC’s graphic showing global totals, and the uptick in implementation studies, regulatory approvals, global recommendations and more. 

PrEP

PrEP works. Investment in more options must continue. Faster, smarter rollout must be a top priority.

Biomedical HIV Prevention Research in 2022 and Beyond

This report provides a concise update on the full landscape of biomedical interventions: including PrEP products in the market and next-gen products in the pipeline—multipurpose products (MPTs), vaccines and broadly neutralizing antibodies.

Correlations between Oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Initiations and Policies that Enable the Use of PrEP to Address HIV Globally

This article from PLoS Global Public Health presents the results of an analysis examining whether policies enabling broad PrEP eligibility, HIV self-testing, and lowered age of consent to HIV testing and treatment services are correlated with PrEP uptake.

PLOS Publication Correlates Key Policies with PrEP Uptake

New research published in the journal PLOS today from AVAC and COMPASS partners shows the importance and value of an enabling policy environment to increase the uptake of HIV prevention services, including for PrEP.

Using data from 194 countries gathered by the HIV Policy Lab and AVAC’s Global PrEP Tracker, the team analyzed the impact of a series of policies: broad PrEP eligibility, HIV self-testing, and lowered age of consent to HIV testing and treatment services. Each was found to be correlated with increased PrEP uptake. The results show:

● A significant and positive correlation between countries authorizing HIV self-testing and cumulative number of PrEP initiations in-country.

● A significant and positive correlation between countries authorizing lowered age of consent to HIV testing and treatment and cumulative number of PrEP initiations.

● Similarly, and not surprisingly, policies authorizing broad PrEP eligibility also show significant and positive correlations with PrEP uptake.

These findings suggest that HIV self-testing is a vital step towards increasing access to PrEP, and support existing evidence that HIV self-testing serves as a gateway to PrEP uptake. They also suggest that young people may be motivated to access PrEP and that countries with policies that expand PrEP eligibility may see a strong benefit, with greater adoption of PrEP by people who need it. With these findings in mind, it’s vital to remember that inequities in PrEP access across populations and settings, based on complex social factors such as stigma and discrimination, can begin to be addressed by enabling policies, but require comprehensive strategies that build on that environment. The right policies cannot do the job alone. Community leadership in every aspect of the HIV response from local to national and to international levels is needed.

Read the full publication here: Correlations Between Oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Initiations and Policies that Enable the Use of PrEP to Address HIV Globally.

New Products Are Needed But a New Paradigm is Essential

With all the talk about new HIV prevention products such as the dapivirine vaginal ring or injectable cabotegravir for PrEP (CAB for PrEP), what’s little understood is how to match proven products with the programs, policies and political will needed to get them to the people who need them. This episode explores the shifting landscape in HIV prevention and how this moment gives the world a chance to finally reimagine how to DELIVER prevention.

We go from big picture to grass roots, and dig into what it’s going to take to reach global targets. There’s a new road map out from the Global HIV Prevention Coalition with a big vision and a new target of less than 370,000 new infections by 2025. And PEPFAR’s new Strategic Direction talks about a target for ending the epidemic as a public health threat by 2030, but how are we going to get there?

This episode brings three perspectives together:

PEPFAR Ambassador Dr. John Nkengasong describes a model to scale up prevention in 5 countries and show impact in 1-2 years.

Executive Director of HEPS-Uganda, and former AVAC Advocacy Fellow, Kenneth Mwehonge talks about the commitments needed from a range of stakeholders to bring the Coalition’s new roadmap to life, and hit 2030 targets.

Lilian Benjamin Mwakyosi, the Executive Director of DARE and former AVAC Advocacy Fellow, talks about the day-to-day obstacles faced by young women who need prevention, what’s working now and what needs to change in HIV prevention programs.

Highlights

  • Listen to the ambassador’s appeal for an aggressive strategy to scale up combination prevention, including injectable cabotegravir for PrEP.

Resources

Press Release

Thousands Sign Letter Calling for National PrEP Program

Movement for Equitable PrEP Access Gains Momentum Ahead of World AIDS Day

Contact

Jeremiah Johnson, Jeremiah@PrEP4All.org
Rachel Klein, rklein@taimail.org

November 29, 2022. Washington, DC—Over 6000 individuals and 300 organizations representing all fifty states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands have signed on to a letter calling for the establishment of a national PrEP program. The letter builds on months of advocacy from a large national coalition of HIV/AIDS advocacy organizations calling for federal fiscal year (FY) 2023 funding for a PrEP program that will increase access to medications, labs, and direct services for uninsured and underinsured individuals; expand a provider network including nonclinical sites and telePrEP; and create demand through both national and local campaigns.

“Nearly 400,000 new HIV transmissions have occurred in the United States since PrEP was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 16th, 2012.” states the letter. “Over those ten years, Black, Latinx, and queer communities have continued to bear the brunt of this devastating epidemic. It is critical that the nation address this long-standing crisis by creating a national PrEP program to expand access to PrEP so that it reaches every person in need.”

The letter–promoted by PrEP4All, AVAC, The AIDS Institute, NMAC, the National Coalition of STD Directors, NASTAD, and AIDS United—notes that of the 1.2 million Americans estimated by the CDC to be most in need of PrEP only 9 percent of Black individuals and 16 percent of Latinx people had PrEP prescriptions in 2020 compared to 66 percent of White individuals.

“This persistent, never-ending crisis has come at great financial cost to our healthcare system. A national PrEP program would avert many of these costs while improving the lives and health of thousands of people nationwide,” the letter continues.

The letter is being delivered to the White House and Congressional leadership as Congress moves to finalize appropriations for FY23, providing a key opportunity for appropriators to invest critical funding toward a national PrEP program. A downpayment on a national PrEP program in FY23 is a necessary first step to promote equitable access to this proven HIV intervention that prevents new HIV infections that are costly to both personal health and healthcare systems.

We call on Congress and the Administration to fund a national PrEP program now so that we can advance this critical intervention and realize the bipartisan goal of ending HIV as an epidemic in the US. A decade has been too long to wait. We need a #NatlPrEPProgramNow.

logos of sign on organizations

###