Advocates’ Guide: The risks and benefits of expedited COVID-19 vaccine research

This guide highlights the strategies being implemented to shorten the COVID-19 vaccine development timeline and the benefits, risks and key takeaways for each.

A Global Pandemic Requires an Unprecedented Response

Meeting the ambitious timelines for a COVID-19 vaccine will require an unprecedented multi-faceted, coordinated global response including governments, industry, academic researchers, delivery partners, donors and civil society. This graphic represents the pillars of this landscape — with those organizations mentioned by name representing just a small fraction of the growing number of contributors in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Excerpted from Five “P”s to Watch.

A Global Pandemic Requires an Unprecedented Response

Will compressed and overlapping steps get a vaccine faster? The innovations advocated for in Vaccines development that are being employed in the COVID-19 response today include: running certain clinical trials in parallel instead of sequentially; gearing up manufacturing capacity before final study results are in and negotiating public/private commitments in advance to facilitate sustainable access to new vaccines.

Excerpted from Five “P”s to Watch.

Applying Lessons from Family Planning to HIV Prevention Product Introduction

An analysis of lessons and data from family planning in sub-Saharan Africa to better inform introduction of HIV prevention products and integration of HIV prevention into family planning settings.

Integration of HIV Prevention and Sexual Reproductive Health Services in Kenya

Findings from an assessment of HIV prevention and SRH integration in Kenya, conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, comprised of site visits to health facilities, key informant interviews, civil society dialogues and a policy review.

HIV & Sexual and Reproductive Health Integration

Compilation of top learnings on and approaches to implementing HIV/SRH integration in sub-Saharan Africa, drawn from literature reviews, qualitative interviews, and an analysis of policy requirements for PrEP and family planning providers.

Exploring Integration of Family Planning and HIV Services

A literature review to identify existing knowledge on barriers and enablers to the integration of HIV and family planning services in sub-Saharan Africa, in order to understand the feasibility of providing existing and new HIV prevention options and services in family planning settings.

Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention (VMMC): An introductory factsheet

This introductory 2-page document explains how VMMC works, reviews the scientific evidence behind it, and outlines key advocacy issues for implementing it.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – Index Testing

Index testing, a PEPFAR initiative that tracks the contacts of people who test positive for HIV, has potential benefits when done ethically. But index testing is presently being aggressively implemented in ways that cause harm, increase risk of violence and undermine people’s rights to consent, confidentiality and safety. Changes must be made to protect individuals and foster community trust in their healthcare system. For activists and advocates attending PEPFAR in-country retreats, this FAQ provides background and advocacy priorities.

2020 Global Targets for Prevention Will Not Be Met: Now What?

With unmet UNAIDS “Fast-Track” targets for ending the epidemic now a reality, the field faces the sobering truth that we’ve been striving towards the 90-90-90 treatment targets without the same enthusiasm, focus and commitment to primary prevention targets.

In this episode of Px Pulse, AVAC’s Emily Bass and lead author of our report Now What? talks about AVAC’s blueprint for course correcting—bold leadership, smart target-setting for HIV prevention research and implementation, and multilayered prevention programs that are centered around people. She explains why the epidemic needs a sustained response and how leaders from the highest level down to the grassroots can demand accountability and reject a “business as usual” approach.