Mia Malan, founder and editor-in-chief of the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism – an independent media organisation that specialises in narrative, solutions journalism focusing on health and social justice issues across Africa.
Dr Ntombifikile Nokwethemba Mtshali, Chief Executive Officer of Shout-It-Now, an organisation focused on providing sexual and reproductive health and rights services to youth in the Gauteng and North-West provinces.
Mitchell Warren, Executive Director of AVAC – an advocacy organisation focused on accelerating access to effective HIV prevention options and ensuring access to everyone who needs them. Mitchell also worked with Population Services International (PSI) designing and implementing social marketing, communications and health promotion activities, including five years running PSI’s project in South Africa.
Avac Event
Updates to the PEPFAR Stop-Work Order and the Role of CCM
Join AVAC, COMPASS and other partners to update CCMs on the PEPFAR freeze.
Global Health Watch News Brief
New guidance, confusion, and advocacy in action
The sustained attacks on global health and the dismantling of critical infrastructure by the US government continued this week. Here is an overview of developments in US policies and their implications for the HIV response and global health equity.
New Developments
Humanitarian Aid, PEPFAR Freeze and HIV Prevention A pause on all US foreign assistance was announced January 20, leading to layoffs and halted delivery of life-saving medication and services, with severe consequences for communities. Last weekend, PEPFAR finally received a waiver for some treatment and programs for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT). However, guidance has been lacking as to which programs can resume. On Thursday, the US Department of State issued guidance allowing for the continuation of HIV testing for all populations and HIV care and treatment for all people living with HIV. But primary prevention and key population programming was excluded, and the guidance goes so far as to state: “people other than pregnant and breastfeeding women who may be at high risk of HIV infection or were previously initiated on a PrEP option cannot be offered PEPFAR-funded PrEP during this pause of US Foreign Assistance or until further notice”. In the meantime, almost all USAID staff were put on administrative leave and all contract staff at PEPFAR were laid off on Wednesday. Advocates and implementers in dozens of countries are already reporting significant setbacks, including closed drop-in centers and halted PrEP distribution. In an attempt to fight back and advance HIV prevention as core in the global HIV response, the African Women Prevention Community Accountability Board issued a powerful Call to Action for Sustaining HIV Prevention Gains for Women and Girls in Africa.
IMPLICATIONS: The situation remains deeply concerning and riddled with confusion: while some waivers are being granted, many implementing partners continue to face stop-work orders, stalling critical services. Most alarmingly, disallowing individuals already on life-saving PrEP from continuing these services threatens to reverse hard-won progress in controlling the HIV epidemic. As Kenneth Ngure explains in the New York Times article on the USAID withdrawal’s impact on clinical trials: “Without regular [PrEP] injections or a carefully-managed discontinuation, the participants will not have enough cabotegravir to stop a new infection, but there will be enough in their systems that, if they were to contract the virus, it could easily mutate to become drug-resistant.”
USAID Shutdown and Dismantling The majority of USAID staff and contractors were fired or placed on administrative leave and locked out of their accounts and out of the building in Washington, DC. Most essential functions of the agency have been stopped. Many lawmakers on both the Democrat and Republican sides have opposed these orders, but attempts to pass resolutions supporting USAID have been blocked in the Senate. Also, Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed lawmakers that he would also serve as Acting USAID Administrator and has given Peter Marocco, a political appointee at the State Department, additional responsibility at USAID. This allowed Marocco to start reviewing and possibly restructuring USAID’s programs. The State Department also began a review of USAID’s foreign aid activities, with the goal of potential reorganization. Reports late on Thursday were that USAID would have less than 300 staff left (down from over 10,000) and 800 awards and contracts were being canceled. Labor groups representing employees at USAID brought a lawsuit against the new administration over efforts to freeze foreign assistance and HIV advocates protested in Washington, DC Thursday demanding that the administration fully restore PEPFAR funding. So much for a 90-day pause and review – all done in two weeks?
IMPLICATIONS: This dismantling includes efforts to completely dissolve USAID, raising significant concerns about the future of global health and development programs. Many argue that a shutdown of the agency undermines US power and global influence, especially as China and Russia look to fill in the foreign aid gaps. As we wrote last week, contractors at USAID and the State Department Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy (GHSD) are essential to the Bureau’s operations, and their expulsion paralyzes USAID, GHSD and PEPFAR.
New Gender Policy The US CDC, NIH and other federal health agencies removed hundreds of HIV-related web pages on 8,000+ websites following executive orders targeting “gender ideology” and “DEI.” This week, many of the pages have been restored, but without reference to transgender individuals. The restored pages show a rushed revision to content on HIV, STIs and sexual and reproductive health and important information for key populations has been removed. This censorship is further exacerbated by instructions from the new administration demanding that scientists at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) retract scientific articles that include “forbidden terms” such as gender, transgender, LGBT, or transsexual.
The recent removal of HIV- and LGBTQ-related content undermines public health and health equity. Key resources, including HIV PrEP guidance and transgender-focused materials, were deleted or revised, leaving significant gaps in data and care recommendations. Though some information has been restored, critical omissions jeopardize effective HIV prevention, care, and outreach, particularly for marginalized populations at higher risk of infection. In response to the censorship of scientific publications, at least the British Medical Journal editors stood up in their editorial: Medical journal editors must resist CDC order and anti-gender ideology: “The US was considered a world leader in public health and research. With one repressive stroke that reputation risks being shattered and broken. If anything is forbidden now, it is that medical and science journals, whose duty is to stand for integrity and equity, should bow to political or ideological censorship.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Confirmation Hearings The Senate Finance Committee voted to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). His nomination now moves on to the full Senate after a 14-13 vote. Senator Bill Cassidy, a medical doctor and Republican from Louisiana, who voiced support for PEPFAR previously, ended up voting for Kennedy.
IMPLICATIONS: Despite concerns over Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism, AIDS denialism and racist views of immunology, his confirmation appears likely with a full Senate vote imminent. As HHS Secretary, Kennedy would have control over the US CDC, NIH, FDA and other important health agencies, including how funding is spent, how programs are administered and how science is communicated.
Seeking Visuals and Videos
Leading groups in Washington, DC are urgently trying to collect videos and photos of what’s happening “on the ground” because of the freeze, such as clinic closures despite the waiver. Non-professional phone videos and photos are welcome. Contact or send to [email protected] for more details.
In other news, there was progress in HIV prevention: Gilead Sciences submitted lenacapavir for PrEP to the European Medicines Agencies (EMA) for review, both to market in Europe as well as for an EU-Medicines for All (EU-M4all) application that would facilitate availability of LEN for PrEP in low- and lower-middle-income countries. This marks a big step toward ensuring injectable PrEP reaches those who need it most, which was also highlighted in this week’s Lancet HIV editorial: Steps toward quick and equitable roll-out of lenacapavir. This makes fighting to restart PEPFAR-supported PrEP programs all the more important, so the world can prepare for LEN introduction. If we can’t drive down new infections with all options, we can’t imagine a sustainable HIV response.
Global Health Watch News Brief: Issue 1
The last week has brought an alarming series of developments affecting global health and human rights. Here’s a brief overview of critical changes and their implications:
Pause on PEPFAR and humanitarian programs: On Monday, US officials announced a suspension of all PEPFAR programs, threatening access to lifesaving HIV treatment and prevention for millions worldwide and jeopardizing decades of progress in global health. US officials were told to stop providing technical assistance to national ministries of health and PEPFAR’s data and computer systems were taken offline. On Tuesday, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, a longtime supporter of PEPFAR, approved an “Emergency Humanitarian Waiver”, allowing “life-saving medications” to continue to be delivered. However, official guidance on how to interpret the waiver is lacking and it’s unclear whether providing HIV treatment can resume.
IMPLICATIONS: More than 20 million people living with HIV could lose access to treatment, with widespread job losses expected across multiple countries. Most urgently, the delivery of ARVs funded by PEPFAR has already been disrupted. According to an analysis from amfAR, 222,333 people start new ARVs daily, meaning that many individuals now face the life-threatening possibility of interrupted treatment. Beyond these immediate impacts, the broader cessation of ARVs for over 20 million people would have catastrophic consequences.
Federal financial freeze: Also on Monday, the new administration issued (via the Office of Management and Budget, OMB) a freeze on federal financial assistance, which impacts funding for research, healthcare, diversity programs, and energy projects among other efforts. Democrats are arguing that the freeze is unlawful and would harm communities across the US. Some states are pursuing lawsuits. Due to substantial community backlash and legal challenges, the administration rescinded the memo in less than 24 hours. The administration meanwhile asserts the Executive Order is still in effect
IMPLICATIONS: The President’s pause on foreign assistance at the State Department remains in effect. Most international health and humanitarian efforts remain frozen, except for those covered by the waiver for “life-saving medications” referenced above. Even as the status of these federal funding freezes are still being clarified, the administration can be expected to continue to pursue strategies to impound, rescind, and limit access to federal funding for public health research and programs, and use misinformation and rhetoric to justify these actions.
USAID leadership shake-ups: The new administration has placed career USAID officials on administrative leave, including leaders who run USAID’s Bureau for Global Health, impeding HIV prevention and civil society support worldwide. In addition, many of the agency’s institutional support contractors (ISCs), who comprise more than 50% of the Global Health Bureau, have already been, or are expected to be, let go. Contractors at the State Department Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy (GHSD), including PEPFAR, were also laid-off Wednesday.
IMPLICATIONS: This signals a deliberate effort by the administration to remove anyone seen as disloyal. Reports of loyalty tests for staff, including inquiries about their “moment of MAGA revelation,” reflect a broad-reaching plan to remove anyone or anything that could scrutinize the administration’s orders. Contractors at USAID and GHSD are essential to the Bureau’s operations, and their expulsion paralyzes the USAID, GHSD and PEPFAR.
Emerging threat as Uganda confirms new Ebola outbreak: Uganda’s Ministry of Health confirmed a new outbreak of the Ebola virus in its capital, Kampala. One death has been reported on Wednesday. This is the first outbreak since 2022, when it took four months to contain the spread of the virus.
IMPLICATIONS: The US intent to withdraw from the WHO and the suspension of communication with the US CDC, the country’s lead government agency, makes it impossible for infectious disease control to coordinate with their international counterpart to mitigate this threat.
National Institutes of Health employees may move to schedule F: In a publicly shared memo, employees of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) may be reclassified as “schedule F”, which strips them of key worker protections as civil servants. This move could allow the administration to dismiss or vet career employees and scientists based on their perceived loyalty to the administration’s political and ideological positions, including the research they oversee.
IMPLICATIONS: This shift could have a chilling effect on new researchers entering the field, potentially undermining the integrity and independence of scientific research.
NIH clinical trials and participant travel continues with uncertainty: Despite NIH restrictions, clinical trials and participant travel to trial sites may still continue, according to an email to staff at the NIH from its Acting Director, Matthew Memoli. Scientists may also discuss ongoing research that was initiated before January 20, given there is no data sharing or public communication outside of those who are part of the research or its funding, leaving the impact on new research uncertain.
IMPLICATIONS: Critical purchases and contracts related to human and animal health, security, and biosafety could proceed, but there are many unanswered questions, especially over the pause in grant reviews and funding decisions.
Fighting the Global Gag Rule: One of the early actions of the new administration was the Executive Order to reinstate the Global Gag Rule. However, the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights Act, a bill to permanently end the Global Gag Rule, was reintroduced in the House and Senate on January 28, making this Act all the more important. AVAC and partners have endorsed the act. Read Congresswoman Lois Frankel’s statement here and watch this space for further updates.
Confirmation Hearings for Russell Vought, nominee for Director of Office of Budget and Management: Russell Vought may be selected to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), an influential office, which plays a key role in developing the annual budget request. In this position, Vought will essentially serve as a key gatekeeper, shaping the Executive Branch’s agenda. Confirmation hearings were scheduled for January 30. However, Democratic senators are demanding the vote be delayed, while debate escalates around federal domestic funding freeze.
IMPLICATIONS: Vought, one of the authors of Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for reshaping the US government, is poised to implement the vision at the highest levels of government. If confirmed, he will have power over foreign assistance, research, and all the programs that save lives in the US and abroad. He will be able to accelerate firings, work stoppages, and withhold federal grants/funds already underway. His leadership represents a direct threat to public health and human rights.
Live in the US? Call your Senator (202) 224-3121 to vote “no” on this confirmation and send a message to Washington that HIV prevention advocates stand firmly against Project 2025 and its writers.
In Case You Missed It
AVAC and PrEP4All urged donors at last week’s FCAA Summit to mobilize emergency funding and unite against these threats.Together, we can protect global health and human rights.
Vox: Researchers are terrified of Trump’s freeze on science. The rest of us should be, too: Discusses the recent public communications ban of the National Institutes of Health, the CDC and other agencies, which has led to canceled meetings, rescinded grants, and travel bans, which has frozen federal grant reviews and raising concerns about the future of public health and scientific research.
The New Yorker: Behind the Chaotic Attempt to Freeze Federal Assistance: Discusses the new administration’s attempt to freeze federal assistance, which led to widespread confusion and concern among federal agencies and aid organizations, highlighting the challenges and potential consequences of such a sudden policy shift. Discusses the new administration’s attempt to freeze federal assistance, which led to widespread confusion and concern among federal agencies and aid organizations, highlighting the challenges and potential consequences of such a sudden policy shift.
Brownstone Institute: The State of Pandemic Preparedness, the WHO, and the US Withdrawal: Discusses the Executive Order withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO) and ceasing negotiations on the WHO Pandemic Agreement and International Health Regulations, highlighting concerns about the potential impact on global pandemic preparedness.
Project Syndicate: Trump at Davos: Reviews the new presidential policies in a world of competing crises, eroding institutions, and increasing geopolitical instability and how these actions are accelerating these challenges. and how these actions are accelerating these challenges.
Introducing Global Health Watch! Tracking US actions and their impact
The last week has been intense and sobering. As strategic and dedicated advocates, we already know the profound impact elections have on our work and our world. Recent developments in the United States underscore the challenges ahead, especially with the new administration’s alignment with the Project 2025 agenda—a playbook designed to reshape US federal agencies and policies drastically.
There are already Executive Orders—which are directives issued by the President of the United States—that have significant implications for our collective work, in the US and around the world. This is, we fear, just the beginning. Administrative actions, such as pausing foreign assistance, including the lifesaving PEPFAR program; halting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; curtailing public communications; and “scrubbing” agency websites represent a systematic effort to control narratives and stifle dissent. And many of the Executive Orders from this past week are aimed at changing who is in control of information.
Some of the new political and policy shifts that we are tracking and what they mean for the programs and systems that matter most to HIV prevention efforts, include:
A foreign aid pause and review A 90-day pause in US foreign development assistance raises concerns about funding for critical programs, including PEPFAR. Already, US-funded projects all over the world are being suspended, jeopardizing access to life-saving treatment and prevention.
An administration that is strongly anti-trans This could mean a broader rollback of diversity and inclusion efforts, including limiting federally-funded programs that provide access to gender-affirming health care. While most of these policies have been implemented domestically in the US, there is a possibility that federally funded international programs could increasingly be the target of anti-trans policies as well.
The reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule This rollback of advances in health and human rights for women and girls will force clinics to close and women to lose access to contraception, HIV and STI prevention and maternal health care, resulting in more unintended pregnancies and more unsafe abortions. It will prevent advocates, community health workers and others from sharing important information with women and girls most at risk.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s January 29 Confirmation Hearing RFK Jr., Trump’s pick to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has pushed AIDS denialism and vaccine mis- and dis-information. While a domestically focused health agency, HHS is also a powerful influence in USG global health policy. Live in the US? Take action by writing to your Senator (campaign by Public Health Awakened).
In addition, AVAC and PrEP4All published a new commentary in POZ magazine asking philanthropic funders gathered at this week’s Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) Summit to adapt to these urgent threats. AVAC urges donor partners and advocates to support one another, and join together in an emergency effort, with immediate funding. As a united front, we can and must defend global health and human rights at this crucial time when collective action by donors, multilaterals, advocates and impacted communities is imperative.
Stay strong, stay safe, and stay sane. It’s a long road ahead, but with our partnerships, we must persevere.
Avac Event
Introducing the Dual Prevention Pill: Lessons Learned and What’s Next for Regulatory, Research, and Rollout
This webinar has been cancelled because funding was pulled by the new US administration. Follow critical developments in US policies and their impact on global health via our new newsletter. Learn more here.
Join the IMPT and guest speakers from AVAC and Population Council for a discussion on the dual prevention pill (DPP)—a single pill that combines oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and oral contraception (OC) to prevent HIV and pregnancy. If approved, the DPP will be the first multi-purpose prevention technology (MPT) to be marketed since condoms.
The discussion will include real-time learnings to inform the broader MPT field on the DPP’s regulatory approval process, acceptability study results in South Africa and Zimbabwe, implementation updates, and lessons learned.
There will be a Q&A session following the presentations.
Much Accomplished, Much to Do
2024–2025 Fellows Progress Update
As we enter a new year, we also enter the midway point of the AVAC 2024-2025 Fellowship program, which runs 18 months. Fellows and their projects are taking giant strides in new areas of advocacy, and realizing strategic wins toward epidemic-bending goals, with much more to come! For more than a decade, Fellows have tackled critical issues for the field, focusing on U=U and new technologies, including long-acting PrEP, the Dual Prevention Pill (DPP) and the dapivirine ring (DVR). 2024-2025 fellows have added new areas of focus including on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR); anal health; and HIV prevention in prisons.
Here are some of their accomplishments of the 2024–2025 Fellows Program
Ezra Meme (Uganda) is AVAC’s first Fellow to advance a Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) agenda. He contributed to the development of the Uganda National Action Plan for Health and Security to bolster public health emergency centers throughout the country. While the billions committed in Ugandan shillings still need to be secured, Ezra will continue to monitor and advocate for this unprecedented public health project. He also successfully advocated for the government’s launch of the Antimicrobial National Action plan. And, he’s been closely monitoring Mpox, advocating for a digital mapping tool to track its control efforts.
Bahati Thomas Haule (Tanzania) is laser focused on scaling up and normalizing U=U and the accompanying need for timely viral load testing and results. She’s gotten buy-in from PEPFAR and UNAIDS to support a substantial U=U media campaign and she’s collaborating with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation to spread knowledge of their model U=U program for “nationwide utilization.” She’s also in dialogue with Global Fund to support increased lab capacity and provider training. Bahati presented to the UK Parliament on the need to support LEN for PrEP and for World AIDS Day, she published an opinion piece in the Swahili newspaper Mwananchi, advocating for ARV-based prevention.
Mokone Rantsoelaba (Lesotho) is AVAC’s first Fellow to advocate for HIV services in prison. After visiting nearly all his country’s correctional facilities, he released an assessment of HIV services for the incarcerated in Lesotho. His work was so well received that he was asked to integrate many of his recommendations into Lesotho’s Correctional Services Healthcare Policy, including the training of providers and fast-tracking all new prevention methods for scale-up in prisons. Mokone initiated and continues to convene the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional correctional institutions along with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to share best practices. Mokone has also been invited as a guest columnist for one of Lesotho’s top publications.
Sammy Anyula Gorigo (Kenya) is AVAC’s first Fellow to spotlight anal health. Specifically, Sammy’s been promoting HPV vaccines, screening and treatment for all men, particularly gay and bisexual men and other MSM. Thus far, he integrated HPV screening as a standard of practice into Nairobi County Health Management. He updated two separate guidelines to include anal health care for men—Kenya’s Standard Operating Manual for Prevention and Management of STIs and the National Guidelines for HIV and STI Programming with Key and Vulnerable Populations. He’s been invited to PEPFAR’s COP planning and writing process to develop an anal package of care. Lastly, for World AIDS Day, he published an opinion piece landing in The Nation, The Star and The Standard.
Rhoda Msiska (Zambia) is ensuring a swift introduction of the DPP. She’s earned a leading advocacy role, engaging the Ministry of Health to fast-track and de-medicalize PrEP and ensuring DPP inclusion in the national PrEP implementation plan. She’s working with the MoH to set aside DPP funding through the Global Fund and taking to the radio airwaves to create demand. Importantly, Rhoda has secured a first meeting with ZAMRA, Zambia’s regulatory body, to encourage moving forward with civil society support. And, at R4P Conference in Lima Peru in October, Rhoda spoke on a panel addressing strategies for the delivery of the DPP.
Elina Mwasinga (Malawi) is dually focused on HIV prevention for pregnant women and lactating mothers and HIV cure research. Thus far, she’s secured commitment from the National AIDS Commission to integrate cure into Malawi’s Technical Working Group on Research to coordinate activities and ensure a robust cure research portfolio. Likewise, Elina secured integrated PrEP-family planning services with specified inclusion of pregnant and lactating mothers, as reflected in the MOH’s EMTCT Accountability Roadmap. And, she presented on the use of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) to prevent vertical transmission during a WHO consultation and on advocacy as a panelist speaker at the 2024 International AIDS Conference.
Pamela Fuzile (South Africa) is focused on boosting youth engagement in prevention and supporting young champions. She’s establishing a national level youth platform for new technologies in nine provinces where members can influence decisions in the HIV and PrEP technical working groups at SANAC. A key objective is youth advocacy for the inclusion of injectable PrEP and the dapivirine ring in all public health facilities responsive to the needs of young people.
Congrats to all the Fellows on their impressive work thus far. We’ll report on their total accomplishments in late 2025.
AVAC’s Most Downloaded Resources of 2024
From the implementation of DoxyPEP to the game-changing trial results of lenacapavir for PrEP, 2024 has been a landmark year for advancements in HIV and STI prevention. AVAC’s most downloaded resources capture these pivotal milestones, offering essential insights and tools to power your advocacy. Dive into the highlights and stay informed about the strategies shaping the future of HIV prevention.
AVAC’s Top 10
This episode of PxPulse looks at why and how the decisions that shape global health must be made by those facing the greatest risks. As the world evaluates the pandemic response and debates on decolonizing global health gain momentum, equity in global health has never been more urgent.
This graphic shows currently available options for HIV prevention, newly approved and recommended treatment, and those in development.
This plan provides a broad view of all the moving parts and identifies actions and actors responsible for ensuring time is not wasted and opportunity not squandered.
This PxPulse podcast episode goes deep on LEN for PrEP. Recorded just days before Gilead’s announcement that PURPOSE 2 also found very high efficacy, Dr. Flavia Kiweewa, a principal investigator of the first trial to announce efficacy, lays out the research findings and what they mean. And Chilufya Kasanda Hampongo of Zambia’s Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign and Mitchell Warren of AVAC talk about how to change a long history of squandered opportunities to get rollout right.
This report examines disbursements by the U.S. NIH and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is one of few reports to track funding trends in vaccine and diagnostics R&D, and pipeline investments for some of the most common STIs.
Led by AVAC alongside a network of partners, the People’s Research Agenda puts forward recommendations to diversify and strengthen the HIV prevention pipeline, enhance investment and financial support for HIV prevention research and development, and guide an advocacy strategy that truly addresses the needs of communities across the prevention pipeline.
This roadmap aims to build on existing progress while accelerating the pace of HIV prevention. With anticipated regulatory approvals and production scaling, this plan targets over 2.5 million LEN users in low- and middle-income countries by 2027. It focuses on structural barriers and integration of generics into national programs.
Good Participatory Practice Guidelines have been shaping and improving clinical research since 2007. They provide a global reference guide for ethical and effective stakeholder engagement, helping ensure the priorities of trial participants and their communities are centered in clinical trials and broader research agendas.
DoxyPEP is a post-exposure prophylaxis used to prevent the acquisition of some bacterial STIs after sex. This advocates’ guide addresses questions regarding who will benefit most from DoxyPEP and how to implement this strategy broadly to ensure equitable access.
In 2024, Gilead Sciences released findings from the PURPOSE 1 and PURPOSE 2 trials testing lenacapavir (LEN) as HIV prevention. This advocates’ primer provides background on the product and trials; a summary of the early findings of PURPOSE 1 & 2; key questions and next steps.
Avac Event
Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections 2025
The 32nd annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) that took place from March 9–12 in San Francisco, CA convened researchers, advocates and others under drastically altered circumstances, as the new US Administration’s assault on global health and research devastates the HIV response. Foreign aid programs are frozen, US agencies championing science and global health are being dismantled, and US leadership around the world is receding at a critical moment.
The CROI Community Liaisons, AVAC and the European AIDS Treatment Group organized a series of daily Community Breakfast Clubs which were open to all. These live webinars featured researchers and advocates exploring some of the most consequential science and discussions from CROI.
Topics included:
Breaking New Ground: The latest advances in HIV cure
The inaugural edition of the African Workshop on HIV & Women will take place in hybrid format on 27 – 28 February 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya.
The time zone that will be used for this meeting is East Africa Time (EAT). If you need to convert the times to your timezone, this website might be of interest to you: www.WorldTimeBuddy.com.
This exciting new initiative is a regional workshop paired to the annual “International Workshop on HIV & Women”. It is an outstanding opportunity for both local and international healthcare providers, researchers, government, industry, and community representatives to discuss and further increase their knowledge on the issues related to HIV and women living in Africa.
The primary purpose of this workshop is to support changes that will provide a better quality of life for women living with HIV and reduce HIV transmissions in the region.
The format of the workshop enables attendees to learn from renowned HIV experts, discuss challenges, gaps, and opportunities for further learning and research. The debates and roundtables are an especially important vehicle to discuss issues and challenge dogma.
The workshop also provides a forum for early-career investigators to present their research and to personally meet with experts they view as mentors and inspiration for their work.
The meeting organizers hope this workshop will catalyze forming a community, where attendees continue to participate yearly and form valuable relationships and partnerships that lead to collaborative projects and positive changes.
