HIV Vaccines: Key messages

This is a three-page document providing main points surrounding vaccine research. For a shorter one-page version of this, click here.

The Change We Need to End AIDS in Uganda: A civil society analysis of the state of Uganda’s AIDS response

This document, developed by a coalition of civil society groups co-led by AVAC Advocacy Fellows Alice Kayong-Mutebi, Richard Hasunira and Sylvia Nakasi, identifies failures in the Ugandan AIDS response and a 10-point plan to end the country’s epidemic.

Letter to Ambassador Goosby on PEPFAR and the national response to HIV in Uganda in 2012-13

This letter, written by a coalition of civil society groups co-led by AVAC Advocacy Fellows Alice Kayong-Mutebi, Richard Hasunira and Sylvia Nakasi, summarizes concerns and demands related to the US PEPFAR program’s 2012 Country Operating Plan. A country operating plan dictates the scope, funding levels and targets of PEPFAR programming on an annual basis.

Good Participatory Practice: Guidelines for biomedical HIV prevention trials second edition (Thai)

The Good Participatory Practice (GPP) guidelines offer trial funders, sponsors and implementers systematic guidance on how to engage stakeholders throughout the research lifecycle of HIV Prevention Trials.

This second edition of the guidelines, published in 2011, contains three sections: The Importance of Good Participatory Practice, Guiding Principles of GPP in Biomedical HIV Prevention Trials and Good Participatory Practices in Biomedical HIV Prevention Trials. The sections provide context, foundational principles and key practices.

Good Participatory Practice: Guidelines for biomedical HIV prevention trials second edition (Russian)

The Good Participatory Practice (GPP) guidelines offer trial funders, sponsors and implementers systematic guidance on how to engage stakeholders throughout the research lifecycle of HIV Prevention Trials.

This second edition of the guidelines, published in 2011, contains three sections: The Importance of Good Participatory Practice, Guiding Principles of GPP in Biomedical HIV Prevention Trials and Good Participatory Practices in Biomedical HIV Prevention Trials. The sections provide context, foundational principles and key practices.

Good Participatory Practice: Guidelines for biomedical HIV prevention trials second edition (Portuguese)

The Good Participatory Practice (GPP) guidelines offer trial funders, sponsors and implementers systematic guidance on how to engage stakeholders throughout the research lifecycle of HIV Prevention Trials.

This second edition of the guidelines, published in 2011, contains three sections: The Importance of Good Participatory Practice, Guiding Principles of GPP in Biomedical HIV Prevention Trials and Good Participatory Practices in Biomedical HIV Prevention Trials. The sections provide context, foundational principles and key practices.

Letter to Ambassador Goosby from Kenyan Civil Society

This letter on behalf of civil society organizations working in HIV and AIDS in Kenya offers recommendations for PEPFAR’s Kenya Country Operational Plan (COP) in 2013. The letter includes calls for increased investment in HIV treatment options and enhanced participation of CSO-selected civil society groups in every stage of the COP drafting process.

Community Stakeholder Checklist

The Community Stakeholder Checklist is a set of questions that can be used by community stakeholders to evaluate a research team’s compliance with the Good Participatory Practice guidelines. The checklist can be used as a starting point for dialogue with a research team, a way to share experiences with other stakeholders or as an assessment tool.

Capitalizing on Scientific Progress: Investment in HIV Prevention R&D in 2010

This annual accounting of funding for biomedical HIV prevention research tracks trends and identifies gaps in investment. The 2011 report describes the funding environment in the wake of a number of the findings of efficacy in the RV144, CAPRISA, iPrEx and HPTN 025 trials and calls for sustained funding to build on these results.

Press Release

AVAC applauds nomination of Dr. Deborah Birx as US Global AIDS Coordinator

New York – AVAC today issued the following statement from AVAC Executive Director Mitchell Warren on the nomination of Dr. Deborah Birx as the new Ambassador and US Global Coordinator:

“We at AVAC are extremely excited that President Obama has nominated an innovative and visionary person to lead the U.S. government’s fight against HIV/AIDS. The program, now 10 years old, is at a critical juncture, and Dr. Deborah Birx is the ideal leader for the work that lies ahead.

“Dr. Birx’s sterling career in both HIV prevention research and service delivery has always been characterized by passionate commitment to ambitious, innovative responses to the epidemic. Dr. Birx focused her early career on AIDS vaccine research, ultimately serving as Director of the US Military HIV Research Program as it initiated the RV 144 vaccine trial that showed in 2009 through modest efficacy that an AIDS vaccine was possible. We know that she is committed to the promise of combination prevention including the need for new tools such as an AIDS vaccine. More recently, as director of the Global AIDS Program at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she has helped keep the focus on setting and attaining ambitious prevention and treatment goals in communities around the world hard hit by the HIV epidemic.

“As a member of AVAC’s board of directors, Dr. Birx has lent her experience and wisdom to our global advocacy work, and we know her as a keen advocate for a comprehensive response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We congratulate her on this nomination and look forward to continuing to work with her in the global fight to end AIDS.

“Dr. Birx will be assuming this role at a critical time for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Her leadership will be essential in achieving the goals laid out in the PEPFAR Blueprint for Creating an AIDS-Free Generation.

“PEPFAR recently met an ambitious target for scaling up voluntary medical male circumcision, and it is continuing to expand available treatment slots for people living with HIV. But there is difficult work ahead for Dr. Birx and her team—specifically, it is essential to ensure that planned transitions from direct US aid to country ownership of programs do not proceed at the expense of quality services. PEPFAR must demonstrate leadership in ensuring that people not only start AIDS treatment, but remain on it, reaping the full benefits of effective viral suppression.

“It is also critical that PEPFAR continue to engage with civil society as it drafts and implements its plans for country-level work. Dr. Birx, with her established commitment to working with civil society, will be a terrific ally for this work going forward. Finally, the PEPFAR program needs a strong advocate at home, and looks to Dr. Birx to ensure that PEPFAR remains fully funded and ambitious in its targets for the next five years and beyond.

“Dr. Birx follows in the footsteps of two previous leaders who helped to create and mold a truly transformational global health program that the U.S. can be proud of, and we thank Ambassadors Mark Dybul and Eric Goosby for their leadership—and look forward to this next chapter of one of the greatest stories in public health.”

Contact:
Mitchell Warren, mitchell@avac.org, +1-914-661-1536
Kay Marshall, kay@avac.org, +1-347-249-6375

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About AVAC: Founded in 1995, AVAC is a non-profit organization that uses education, policy analysis, advocacy and a network of global collaborations to accelerate the ethical development and global delivery of AIDS vaccines, male circumcision, microbicides, PrEP and other emerging HIV prevention options as part of a comprehensive response to the pandemic.