Avac Event

Pioneering Self-care Solutions to Drive Access to HIV Prevention and Family Planning


Thursday, November 9, at 8:00 AM ET

This session will amplify lessons from five self-care interventions in FP and HIV prevention — DMPA-SC, the Caya Diaphragm, the Dual Prevention Pill, HIV self-testing, and Triggerise, an mHealth platform – to highlight successful self-care strategies across settings and discuss the future of self-care in SRH.

SPEAKERS

  • George William Barigye, Regional Technical Advisor- Anglophone countries, Injectables Access Collaborative, PATH Uganda 
  • Alexandra Angel, Technical Advisor, Sexual and Reproductive Health, PSI
  • Charlotte Pahe, Director, Reproductive Health/Integrated Portfolio, PS Kenya
  • Serah Malaba, Chief Impact Officer, Triggerise
  • Kate Segal, Senior Program Manager, Product Introduction and Access, AVAC

MODERATED BY

  • Anna Rammou, Interim Manager, SRHR Access, CIFF
  • Wawira Nyagah, Director of Product Introduction and Access, AVAC
  • Mitchell Warren, Executive Director, AVAC

This session is part of the 2023 Self-Care Learning and Discovery Series. Learn more about the Discovery Series here.

Avac Event

HPTN 096: Building Equity Through Advocacy – An Integrated, Status-Neutral Approach for Ending the Epidemic Among Black Gay Men in the South

November 15, 10:00 to 11:30 AM ET

The Choice Agenda and partners hosted a fascinating discussion about a novel, much-needed HIV prevention research study – HPTN 096 on November 15. Currently in the field, the study addresses social, structural, institutional, and behavioral barriers to HIV prevention and care. Visit the study website here.

Speakers (list in formation):

Prof. LaRon E. Nelson. Yale School of Nursing; HPTN 096 Protocol Co-Chair
Christopher Hucks-Ortiz, HPTN Black Caucus Chair
Dr. Cedric Pulliam, HPTN 096 Community Strategy Group
Abraham Johnson, HPTN 096 Research Advisor

Moderators:
Riko Boone, Treatment Action Group
John Meade, AVAC

Co-sponsored by PrEP in Black America and Federal AIDS Policy Partnership Research Working Group

Recording / Slides / Resources

DoxyPEP Implementation – All Systems Go?

On October 5, The Choice Agenda (TCA) and the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) hosted a discussion on the roll out of Doxycycline as STI PEP for helping gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men and transgender women reduce bacterial STIs, including gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis.

Speakers:

Dr. Taimur Khan, Fenway Health
Cait Shea, NCSD
Kendrick Clack, NP, Crofoot MD Clinic/Research Center
Lee Vaughn-Ogin, Bigger Blacker Book

Recording / Slides / Resources

Avac Event

Results from STI Landscaping Analyses in East and Southern Africa—Part 2

Thursday, November 9 at 8:00 AM ET

Hear results from STI landscaping projects conducted in seven different countries from East and Southern Africa that explored needs for STI vaccines and diagnostics.

Recording / Lesotho Network of AIDS Service Organizations (LENASO) Slides / HIV Survivors and Partners Network (HIVSPN) Slides / Pangaea Zimbabwe AIDS Trust (PZAT) Slides / Nyanza Reproductive Health Society (NRHS) Slides

Avac Event

Results from STI Landscaping Analyses in East and Southern Africa—Part 1

Tuesday, November 7 at 9:00 AM ET

Hear results from STI landscaping projects conducted in seven different countries from East and Southern Africa that explored needs for STI vaccines and diagnostics.

Recording / Latu Human Rights Foundation Slides / ACTS 101 Uganda Slides / Journalists Association Against AIDS (JournAIDS) Slides

Avac Event

Foundations of HIV Cure Research

In advance of the Strategies for an HIV Cure meeting, AVAC is hosting a foundational training for lay audiences interested in building their knowledge of HIV cure research. Through interactive sessions led by leading experts in the field, the meeting will provide attendees the ability to understand and translate basic science information.

The program will feature: Janet Siliciano, Deborah Persaud, Steven Deeks, Rebecca Lynch and David Margolis.

Recording of Dr. Janet Siliciano Presentation / Recording of Dr. Adam Ward Presentation / Recording of Dr. Deeks, Dr. Persaud, Dr. Joseph, Dr. Jones Presentation

Phase 1 mRNA HIV Vaccine Trials

A breakdown of current HIV mRNA trials and a primer on the basics of mRNA technology.

Avac Event

DoxyPEP Implementation – All Systems Go?

On October 5, The Choice Agenda (TCA) and the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) hosted a discussion on the roll out of Doxycycline as STI PEP for helping gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men and transgender women reduce bacterial STIs, including gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis.

Speakers:

Dr. Taimur Khan, Fenway Health
Cait Shea, NCSD
Kendrick Clack, NP, Crofoot MD Clinic/Research Center
Lee Vaughn-Ogin, Bigger Blacker Book

Recording / Slides / Resources

Advancing Choice in HIV Prevention

In recent weeks, important new resources for advancing choice in HIV prevention have been announced. Don’t miss these highlights from the field. They point to an HIV response in transition, and help to define the role advocacy must play. As policy, practice and budgets strive to keep up with advances in research, advocacy around choice becomes a cross-cutting priority—so that the promise of new options in HIV prevention won’t be squandered in siloed programs, or by poorly-planned supply chains, or because of disconnected policy decisions. People have diverse needs and face complex challenges; ending HIV depends on finding the option that works best for each individual.  

The Choice Manifesto 

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The African Women’s HIV Prevention Community Accounability Board (AWPCAB) launched the HIV Prevention Choice Manifesto, calling for increased political and financial support to ensure every proven method of HIV prevention is integrated into the HIV response, so that all women who need prevention will have access to the options that will make prevention possible for them. At the launch event in Kampala, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima gave a keynote address in support of the Manifesto’s call for all stakeholders to commit to the budgets and strategies that will make choice possible.  

“I congratulate you for the HIV Prevention Choice Manifesto. It’s about pushing everyone towards people-centered, women-centered and women-led approaches to HIV prevention. You have fought with your lives to get here. You are fearless feminists. Women must lead for themselves.” – Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director

Learn more about the HIV Prevention Choice Manifesto and other advocacy resources for choice in our latest AVAC blog, Reclaiming Choice: The launch of the HIV Prevention Choice Manifesto and what that means.  

The Dual Prevention Pill (DPP) 

The DPP Consortium created a multiyear strategy to frame priorities and next steps in the development and delivery of the dual prevention pill (DPP), which is being developed to prevent HIV and unintended pregnancy. This multipurpose prevention technology (MPT) combines oral PrEP with an oral contraceptive. The updated strategy consolidates two years of progress toward preparing the field for new MPTs. The strategy addresses additions to the MPT pipeline, the potential role of the private sector in delivering a future DPP, recommendations for provider counseling on the use of the DPP, market research on potential DPP users, the latest analysis on cost, and more.

Stay tuned for more resources and updates to come on the DPP, the Choice Manifesto, and tools for connecting choice to HIV prevention, ending the epidemic and the role of choice in global health equity in HIV, and beyond.

Announcing the New AVAC.org and Digital Resources

We are delighted to share the new and improved AVAC.org! On our new site, you can easily access all the great data, policy analysis, tools and resources that you’ve come to expect from AVAC, including our much-loved infographics, podcasts, Weekly NewsDigest and Pandemic Watch, webinars, research literacy materials and so much more! 
 
The updated AVAC.org also reflects the expanded vision and practice of our dynamic programs. AVAC will always work to accelerate ethical development and equitable delivery of effective HIV prevention options. But, we also know that responding to HIV and preparing for future pandemics requires a comprehensive, integrated, and sustained response that is rights-based, people-centered and evidence-informed.
 
To AVAC, this means connecting the dots between HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive health and rights, pandemic preparedness, strengthened health systems, research engagement and community leadership. It means recognizing that resilience in global health requires us to confront the threats posed by disparities in access, entrenched stigma, discrimination, criminalizing key populations and inadequate responses to other sexually transmitted infections.

Visit the new AVAC.org for resources, tools and analysis that make these connections as we continue to track and translate the field, including:

  • Information on the entire pipeline of biomedical prevention strategies being investigated today
  • Our projects, which showcase the incredible partnerships and collaboration that underpin everything we do
  • Our podcast, PxPulse, which will deepen your knowledge and help you “check the pulse” of this fast-paced field and the urgent challenges still ahead
  • PxWire our quarterly update on where we are in biomedical prevention research
  • Our HIV clinical trials database, where you can find details on all biomedical prevention trials and our broader resource database containing fact sheets, infographics, blog posts and more on HIV prevention and the broader issues surrounding global health equity
  • Links to our newsletters—Pandemic Watch, Weekly NewsDigest, and our Advocates Network

And be sure to check out three vital AVAC resources that give you all the information you need on PrEP access, STI vaccine and diagnostics R&D and HIV prevention R&D funding.

We are immensely proud to share these resources with you. We hope these tools and analyses will help to power your advocacy, accelerate ethical development and equitable delivery of effective HIV prevention options, and advance global health equity.