An update excerpted from AVAC Report 2016: Big Data, Real People.
New Analysis on Hormonal Contraception and HIV: WHO and others must act
Px Wire July-September 2016, Vol. 9, No. 3
The International AIDS Conference in Durban was a reminder of how important the meeting can be in framing global issues and priorities. This issue of Px Wire offers a look at how the Durban wrap-up catapults us into the future.
The centerspread graphic features a scorecard for the conference (did it deliver?) and a novel look at how to use today’s tools to break the cycle of heterosexual transmission that was so clearly defined in a major Durban presentation.
State of the Funding in 2015
In 2015, preliminary reported funding for HIV prevention R&D decreased from US$ 1.25 billion in 2014 to US$1.18 billion. However, overall funding has remained essentially flat for over a decade. While investments towards research for preventive vaccines and female condoms increased from 2014 levels, investments towards microbicides, PrEP, TasP, VMMC, declined. Prevention of vertical transmission remained almost flat-funded in 2015.
The US public sector remained the single largest source of funding for HIV prevention R&D, with a total investment of US$836 million. European public sector investment continued its decade-long decline, falling US$8 million from 2014. Public sector funding outside the US and Europe also continued to fall, decreasing another US$5 million in 2015 for a total US$18 million decline since 2013. Finally, the philanthropic sector comprised 13% of all funding at US$155 million, a 23 percent decrease from 2014 contributions, while the commercial sector increased its contribution to HIV prevention R&D by 19 percent over 2014.
AVAC Report 2016: Big Data, Real People
In the Report, we argue that the state of HIV prevention data collection in 2016 is poor. One part of the solution lies in the adoption of “HIV Prevention Data Dashboards”. This tracking tool could bring the same specificity and accountability to non-ART prevention services that the “treatment cascade” of diagnosis, initiation, retention and virologic suppression does for antiretrovirals for people living with HIV.
Key Barriers to Women’s Access to HIV Treatment: Making ‘Fact-Track’ a Reality
It is essential to understand the barriers to and facilitators of women’s access to ART, so that individual choices about when and whether to start, and continue with, treatment translate into positive mental and physical health outcomes for the woman, as well as benefiting public health.
In this review, socio-structural factors were explored at macro-, meso- and micro-levels in order to better understand the experiences women living with HIV have of treatment availability and their decision-making around uptake, and to assess how treatment programmes affect their lives. Removing barriers and changing policies and programmes to align with best practices will contribute substantially to efforts for the achievement of global goals such as the ‘90-90-90’ UNAIDS ‘Fast-Track’ targets.
HIV Vaccine Research: An Update
A quick, colorful and comprehensive overview of HIV vaccine research. Four pages, five top-line updates, this is a speedy read, designed to give a sense of the momentum and major issues coming up in the year to come.
Second European HIV Prevention Summit Meeting Report
In January 2016, the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) and AVAC jointly convened the second European HIV Prevention Summit in Brussels. This meeting brought pharmaceutical companies, public health experts, academics and leading scientists in the field of prevention research together with over 50 European community-based advocates for three days of information exchange and debate. The four-page executive summary is attached. The meeting agenda and slide presentations from the meeting are available for download at http://eatgavacprevention.tumblr.com.
Px Wire April-June 2016, Vol. 9, No. 2
Px Wire is AVAC’s quarterly update covering the latest in the field of biomedical HIV prevention research, implementation and advocacy. This issue is an advocate’s guide to the past, present and future of the dapivirine ring for HIV prevention. Featuring a timeline of key milestones that could lead to licensure, a simple comprehensive Q & A, and a closer look at where sub-Saharan African women will have access to daily oral PrEP and/or the Ring via open-label extension studies.
Advocating Female Condoms: A reflection on stakeholder commitments & trends in support for female condoms
Produced by the Universal Access to Female Condoms consortium, this document analyzes policies, programs and budgets of organizations working on female condoms; looks at trends in expenditures on female condoms; provides an overview of emerging trends relevant for female condom advocacy, programming and procurement; and formulates recommendations for the future of female condom advocacy.
Anatomy of a Target – VMMC
In Px Wire, our quarterly newsletter, we looked at the strengths and limitations of new PEPFAR targets, new UNAIDS targets, new guidelines on ART and PrEP from the WHO and new Sustainable Development Goals.
In this excerpt from our centerspread graphic, we take a closer look at voluntary medical male circumcision.