Patrick Muchai

Patrick has been involved in HIV prevention programs in Kenya for the past fifteen years and is passionate about working with communities to understand their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Patrick has served as the Chairperson of the Kenya Medical Research Institute-University of Washington Community Advisory Board (CAB) in Coast Province and coordinated the Coast Vaccine Support Network in Kenya, which enabled him to link research institutions to the community by repackaging information on HIV vaccines in an accessible language.

Fellowship Focus
Patrick developed a culturally-appropriate HIV prevention research training curriculum regarding participation in clinical trials of microbicides, PrEP and HIV vaccines for community members, with a specific focus on key populations in Kenya such as MSM and sex workers. He also built the capacity of Community Advisory Board members to work with the media to ensure that their perspectives are accurately represented.

In Their Own Words
When research communities are meaningfully engaged, they are empowered to participate and provide feedback to the research teams and, in the process, it creates an enabling environment for research conduct.

Lucy Ghati

Lucy currently heads Kenya’s chapter of the International Community of Women Living with HIV, working to ensure that women’s rights are respected and promoted. She recently joined the Multistakeholder Task Team for UNAIDS to explore ways to enhance reporting on and funding for community-led HIV responses. After Lucy tested HIV positive in 2002, she mobilized communities to fight the pandemic. She left her teaching job in 2007 and joined NEPHAK, a not-for-profit organization governed by and for persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) in Kenya, as a program officer. She also served as a community representative for the new TB vaccine working group of the Stop TB Partnership, and served on the gender technical working group of National AIDS Control Council (NACC), Kenya, as well as the ART for prevention working group of the National AIDS and STI Control Program (NASCOP).

Fellowship Focus
Lucy sensitized communities on the benefits of early ART initiation, resulting in demand creation for early treatment. She helped develop the Kenya PLHIV Manifesto, which was well received by Kenya’s Vice President.

In Their Own Words
I will continue deriving my motivation from the positive impact of HIV prevention research. I am optimistic that it will show a huge reduction in new HIV infection and quality life for those on treatment in the years to come.

Peter Michira

Peter is a Technical Advisor at Partners PrEP Scale-Up Project in Kenya. At the time of his Fellowship project, he had more than 12 years of experience working in HIV/AIDS programs. He has been involved in the coordination of field activities at the Partners in Prevention clinical trials site in Thika since 2006. He also worked as the focal point for the community within the Partners PrEP HIV discordant couples study, the largest study to date involving 4,758 HIV discordant couples.

Fellowship Focus
The positive results of the Partners PrEP study gave Peter the insight to lobby for the adoption of PrEP as an HIV prevention strategy in Kenya. In his project, Peter built a favorable environment and partnerships with key stakeholders. He formed a PrEP advocacy coalition within civil society and succeeded in getting PrEP funded through the Global Fund. Peter also worked with the media to cover the need for PrEP and its place in the HIV management continuum of care.

In Their Own Words
The Future Fellow will take over the mantle through close association with the various stakeholders and through the newly formed coalition.

Maureen Milanga

Maureen is an Associate Director of International Policy and Advocacy at Health Global Access Project (Health GAP). She’s responsible for campaigning for increased access to HIV treatment, improving outdated HIV treatment policies, mobilizing civil society to demand better drugs faster, increasing civil society engagement to ensure meaningful participation and supporting the enhancement of key population service delivery and focus by governments and donors.

Fellowship Focus
Maureen engaged and influenced national and international processes in adopting the Kenya PLHIV Manifesto, monitoring Option B+ rollout, updating ART guidelines towards “treatment on demand”, and funding decision-making. During and after her Fellowship, she has continued to work with partners to successfully influence the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars in US funding to more effective programs that focus on communities, including key populations in Kenya and several other countries.

In Their Own Words
PEPFAR cuts could force marginalized groups to seek services in general health facilities, where they are likely to face discrimination. In terms of service delivery, it is important to ensure that PLHIV and key populations have access to the latest treatment options and that the community supports their adherence.

Media

Jacqueline Wambui

Jacque is an HIV-positive activist who has long worked in the community and shared her story in order to encourage others to live positively. She currently represents Kenya as an alternate on the AfroCAB Treatment Access Partnership Community Advisory Board,leads Kenya’s Treatment CAB and serves as a member of the ECHO Trial Global Community Advisory Board (GCAG). She has a special interest in sexual and reproductive health for young HIV-positive women and girls and on advocating for their rights.

Fellowship Focus
Jacque made treatment as prevention part of the political landscape in the run-up to Kenya’s 2012 national elections and influenced the process of revising the national ART guidelines. An important win that came after her Fellowship is her successful advocacy for the use of dolutegravir among women of reproductive age.

In Their Own Words
Women living with HIV should be given the choice. They must be informed about the risks and benefits of the different ARV regimens, and then the women should decide what is best for them. We’re tired of decisions being made for us.

Media

Grace Kamau

Grace is currently the Regional Coordinator of the Africa Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA). Before her Fellowship project, she was involved in HIV prevention programs with the Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme (BHSP), which supports a membership of more than forty thousand sex workers, and where she worked as project officer coordinating sex workers across Kenya. She was the Secretary of the Sex Worker Alliance for Kenya and sits on the Kenya Technical Advisory body for sex workers.

Fellowship Focus
Grace engaged sex workers and bar hostesses to better facilitate acceptance and engagement with PrEP and microbicides research. She explored the issues and concerns about possible future access to these interventions for sex workers and bar hostesses. As Fellow, she engaged policy makers on the benefits that these potential HIV prevention interventions could have for high-risk groups.

In Their Own Words
Sex workers are an easy target in a time of crisis. Clients feel they can take advantage of them, and law enforcement think they can use them to show that they are implementing COVID-19 measures.

Media

Simon K’Ondiek

Simon is a public health educator/advocate with considerable experience in health research, advocacy and community engagement in both domestic and international settings. He is a researcher and community organizer with a strong focus on improving the quality of life through health communication and cooperation with key populations and local communities. His current work in implementation science seeks to ensure that affected communities are actively engaged in and inform HIV prevention research.

Fellowship Focus
Simon documented issues/challenges arising in VMMC rollout in Nyanza Province in Kenya through a photography documentary focused on addressing knowledge, attitudes and gaps in scale-up efforts. Simon worked with community members to take photos and conduct interviews with others. He built an advocacy task force to work within Nyanza to monitor the rollout of VMMC in Nyanza district.

In Their Own Words
There’s a need for woman-controlled methods for HIV prevention, specifically for adolescent girls and young women and key populations to lower and eventually eliminate new HIV infections. We must all do everything we can to ensure that those interventions are developed and that they are put in the hands of those who need them the most.

Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH)

LVCT Health and SWOP Kenya (IPCP – Kenya)

Testing and Linkage to Care for Injecting Drug Users in Kenya (TLCIDU Kenya)