I Am More Than HIV Prevention – Results from the HPTN 091 Study with Transgender Women
HPTN 091, the I Am study, evaluated the impact of a multicomponent HIV prevention strategy to increase the uptake and adherence of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among transgender women. The strategy included HIV prevention services, gender-affirming hormone therapy, and peer health navigation.
This webinar will feature Dr. Tonia Poteat, study co-investigator, who will review the study findings and discuss implications.
Speakers:
Tonia Poteat, Ph.D., Duke University School of Nursing, Division of Healthcare in Adult Populations
This webinar will feature Portuguese and Spanish translation thanks to HPTN.
Introducing the Gears of Lenacapavir Rollout and The People’s Research Agenda
This World AIDS Day, the HIV/AIDS response stands at a crossroads, with injectable lenacapavir set to transform HIV prevention. But as the new UNAIDS report highlights, it also comes at the same time as restrictive policies, economic instability, and geopolitical challenges threaten to frustrate access and rollback so much of the progress that has been achieved over the past two decades.
AVAC’s 2025 advocacy agenda prioritizes collaboration and strategies for equitable and accelerated product introduction that maximize the public health potential of new prevention options and simultaneously sustains investment in critical research and development. AVAC’s newest publication, The Gears of Lenacapavir for PrEP Rollout, provides a clear pathway for the speed, scale and equity needed to translate exciting science into public health impact, while our recent The People’s Research Agenda (PRA) meets this high-stakes moment for HIV prevention with a clear, concise and collaboratively developed set of priorities for how prevention research should be conducted and what products should be developed in the future.
Despite the challenges, 2025 holds immense potential for ensuring the equitable rollout of new options and the accelerated development of a pipeline of additional options, the combination of which can help move the field closer to ending HIV/AIDS.
The Gears of Lenacapavir for PrEP Rollout: Driving Speed, Scale, and Equity
Lenacapavir’s rollout is not just about making a new drug available as quickly as possible; it is about ensuring that it reaches the people who need it most, as swiftly and equitably as possible. Gilead has announced its readiness to manufacture up to 10 million doses for 2026, but this potential hinges on coordinated action by governments, donors, and civil society. The roadmap outlines the essential gears driving this effort, from robust demand generation and procurement strategies to equitable distribution and community-driven implementation. Crucially, the roadmap emphasizes lessons learned from previous PrEP interventions: that availability alone is not enough. With global HIV targets still unmet and disparities persisting, this effort demands decisive action and long-term planning.
The People’s Research Agenda: A Community-Driven Vision
The People’s Research Agenda (PRA) brings the voices of affected communities to the forefront of HIV prevention research and product development. With limited resources, the stakes for decisions about which products to develop and eventually deliver become even higher for funders, communities, policy makers and governments. The PRA offers a bold vision for aligning scientific innovation with community needs. By amplifying the perspectives of those most affected by the epidemic, the PRA is a tool for driving accountability among funders, developers, and policymakers. As a living, adaptable framework, it ensures that evolving needs and challenges in the prevention landscape remain at the center of decision-making.
A Call to Action
The rollout of lenacapavir and the implementation of the PRA come at a critical moment in the global HIV/AIDS response. Achieving their full potential will require sustained collaboration, strategic investments, and unwavering commitment to equity. Together, we can transform this pivotal moment into lasting progress.
Advocacy: Now more than ever
We are in a period of profound uncertainty, remarkable progress and tremendous concern—for the state of the world, for the state of global health and HIV, and for the specific work that AVAC and our partners do. We’ve seen incredible advances in biomedical prevention in 2024 with the introduction of the dapivirine vaginal ring (DVR) and injectable cabotegravir (CAB) for PrEP and the spectacular clinical trial results of injectable lenacapavir—the combination of which could transform lives if rolled out with speed, scale and equity.
For many of us, the unfolding developments in the United States, which continue to ripple across the global health community, are sparking anxiety around whether we can sustain the progress the field has made over decades while continuing to develop effective HIV prevention options and ensure access to those options for everyone who needs and wants them.
At AVAC, we see strength in staying focused on developing what we need and delivering what we have. We are doubling down on delivering high-quality, impactful work, supported by ongoing collaboration with our partners to meet our mission in a shifting environment.
As we recognize World AIDS Day this weekend and next week’s #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back, we ask you to consider supporting AVAC so that we and our partners can continue to deliver the effective and impactful advocacy that is needed now more than ever. This means continuing to put people and communities at the center of our work, ensuring that the global response is connected to the real needs of affected people.
Many thanks in advance for your partnership and support.
Advancing Choice and Equity: New tools and a changing landscape
As a new US presidential administration takes shape, our commitment to championing choice, science, and rights remains unwavering. This critical moment demands intentional strategies to protect progress in HIV prevention and global health equity while staying true to our mission and values.
Given the concerning rise of health misinformation on X (formerly Twitter), we must find new ways to share accurate, science-based information. Starting this week, we’ll begin to transition our presence to BlueSky, an open-source alternative to X, alongside Instagram and Facebook. Learn more about Blue Sky here and be sure to follow us.
Read on for the latest insights on CAB for PrEP and new resources on PrEP delivery, STI R&D, and the political challenges and the priorities in 2025 and beyond.
Trials to Impact: The Latest Insights on CAB for PrEPAn Advocate’s Guide to Research in Pregnant and Lactating Populations
The Biomedical Prevention Implementation Collaborative (BioPIC) is leading an integrated and adaptable strategy to deliver new HIV prevention products, with a particular focus on longer-acting PrEP methods. The BioPIC’s Adaptable Product Introduction Framework, emphasizes the need to conduct early-stage activities alongside Phase III clinical trials, and conducts Think Tanks to pinpoint evidence gaps and share insights from modeling and implementation studies. This work is driving more effective, people-centered product delivery. Read more on recent CAB for PrEP insights and visit the Evidence Gap Tracker.
In the days, months and years ahead under a new US Presidential Administration, advocacy for choice, freedom, science, and rights will require intentional strategies to protect hard fought gains in HIV treatment and prevention and in global health generally, and to safeguard policies and programs that advance it. And there will be major implications for the global AIDS response.
An Advocate’s Guide to Research in Pregnant and Lactating Populations
Check out our updated graphic in this advocates’ guide, which shares background on the need for research in pregnant and lactating populations and how advocates can advance inclusion.
An Advocate’s Guide to Research in Pregnant and Lactating Populations
A resource that provides background on the need for research in pregnant and lactating populations and how advocates can advance inclusion.
Moving a Product to the “Real World”
A visual roadmap illustrating the key stages transitioning a product from clinical trials to large-scale real-world implementation.
This Week at AVAC: US election, new LEN resources, STI pipeline and PrEP service delivery
As we continue to grapple with the results of the US presidential election and what this means for our work and for global health evidence- and rights-based policies and programs generally, we wanted to share a range of new tools and resources you may find helpful in your advocacy for choice, science and rights.
Understanding Anal Pleasure and Health for Clinicians, Behavioral Health Specialists, Peers & HIV Workers
Forty years into the epidemic, people are still seeking accurate, reliable information about anal play that isn’t just about HIV and STI prevention. They want to understand how to engage in ways that maximize pleasure and reduce harms beyond infectious disease. Often, they end up encountering harmful myths rather than facts, and then learn by ‘trial and error’.
This 90-minute webinar is appropriate for HIV and STI clinicians, behavioral health workers, social workers, case managers, peers and anyone else with a responsibility for delivering or referring to HIV services like treatment, PrEP, testing and support services.
Participants learned the rationale for why addressing anal pleasure and health is essential in HIV service settings as well as ways to respond to frequently asked questions, including via a new client- and worker-facing website.
Bryan Kutner, PhD, MPH, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Samuel Anyula Gorigo, Hoymas (Health Options for Young Men on HIV/AIDS and STIs) Kenya
PrEP Initiations in Latin America, 2019-2024
Latin American countries account for 306,000 cumulative PrEP initiations in the Global PrEP Tracker as of Q2 2024, which represent 4% of the global total. Since 2019, PrEP initiations across the region continue to increase at a steady rate, with Brazil reaching about 194,000 cumulative PrEP initiations (63% of regional total) since the inception of its National PrEP Program. Read more in PxWire.
Avac Event
True Choice in HIV Prevention Involves More than Product Options: Novel strategies in service delivery
The Choice Agenda and presenters from Brazil, Kenya, and South Africa discussed novel strategies for the delivery of HIV prevention interventions. All HIV prevention products have their “Achilles Heels.” Differentiated service delivery supports reaching a wide range of potential users and can overcome challenges with product attributes. Offering different strategies can also make the interface with health care easier and more community friendly.
Speakers:
Ines Dourado, Universidade Federal da Bahia
Catherine Verde Hashim, AVAC
Catherine Martin, Wits RHI
Katrina Ortblad, Fred Hutch
Adriano Queiroz, City of São Paulo Municipal Health Secretariat
Daniel Were, Jhpiego
Thanks to WHO for providing live simultaneous Ukrainian translation and to PAHO for providing live simultaneous translation in Portuguese and Spanish.
