The 5th HIV Research for Prevention (R4P) conferenceis being held in Lima, Peru from 6 to 10 October. Held every two years, HIVR4P is the only global conference to focused exclusively on biomedical HIV prevention, including AIDS vaccines, microbicides, PrEP, treatment as prevention and other approaches.
See below for conference highlights, recaps and announcements.
SRH + HIV integration advocacy, Pandemic Accord, GPP and more!
AVAC’s round-up of resources, updates and insights this week includes a new roadmap for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV integration, resources to support an equitable Pandemic Accord, innovations in Good Participatory Practices (GPP) and more!
The power of choice in contraception, sexual health and HIV prevention this World Contraception Day
Copper Rose Zambia, as a part of CASPR and AVAC launched a new resource addressing the critical need for integrated SRH and HIV services. This roadmap provides key steps for success, focusing on collaboration, strategic mapping and targeted advocacy.
MPTs are products designed to simultaneously address more than one sexual and reproductive health concern. This advocates’ guide shows the pipeline of products in development, discusses why MPTs are needed, investment, and what advocates can do to push for MPT development and introduction.
A group of organizations advocating for an integrated and holistic approach to preparedness that emphasizes equity, inclusion, and synergies of multiple global health programs in advancing preparedness, shares five priorities in Pandemic Accord negotiations.
AVAC’s Sam Rick moderated CISDI’s event alongside Nina Schwalbe, Lawrence Gostin, Eloise Todd and others, reminding the audience that for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPPR) to succeed, lessons from the HIV response must be integrated into the architecture being built for PPPR.
The 2024 Good Participatory Practice Online Course is now accepting applications for 30 spots! This course offering will run 14 October – 20 December 2024. The application deadline is 9 October.
After two years of negotiations, countries did not reach an agreement around the Pandemic Accord and therefore agreed to continue negotiations for up to one year. The Pandemic Accord is meant to represent a global agreement on coordination, equity principles, financing expectations, and a range of capacity areas, including disease surveillance, healthcare workforce, lab facilities, and resources for non-pandemic related healthcare.
However, “there’s been no other process where they so systematically ignored civil society,” said Nina Schwalbe, CEO of Spark Street Advisors. AVAC’s Sam Rick who moderated the event reminded the audience that for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPPR) to succeed, lessons from the HIV response must be integrated into the architecture being built for PPPR. Meaning, the principles of equity must be embedded into every level of these agreements, and governments and civil society must be empowered to hold them accountable.
Schwalbe and colleagues expressed their deep concern and dissatisfaction with the ongoing Pandemic Accord negotiations. See the recent statement from the Coalition of Advocates for Global Health and Pandemic Preparedness. “With decades of experience in the global HIV and NTD movements, we have demonstrated through our work the crucial role that civil society and communities play in advancing multilateral governance and their impact on health outcomes, as pandemics start and end with community and as such, communities and civil society must be at the center of, and included in all pandemic negotiations… We urge Member States to agree to a governance structure for the Accord moving forward that institutionalizes meaningful civil society and community engagement.”
The panel highlighted the disparities in vaccine distribution and the necessity for self-reliance in health systems. They emphasized the need for a unified message and strategic coordination among civil society organizations to influence global health policies effectively.
“You need global health, that is, you need the highest possible health outcomes for as many people around the world, and you need all of those benefits to be equitably distributed… And I think it’s up to us in civil society, pressing our governments, pressing the WHO, pressing the United Nations to actually make this happen.” – Lawrence Gostin, Faculty Director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law
The panel made clear calls to action:
Read and provide comments on the draft pandemic agreement text to identify gaps and push for stronger civil society participation.
Engage with national authorities responsible for pandemic preparedness and response to ensure meaningful civil society participation at the country level.
Support a unified message that can be widely endorsed by civil society organizations.
Advocate for the establishment of formal, funded, and representative civil society engagement mechanisms in the pandemic agreement negotiations and other global health governance processes.
Explore opportunities to leverage upcoming events like the COP meetings to amplify civil society voices and push for greater inclusion.
Integrating HIV and PrEP Services in US Correctional Facilities
This webinar explored the integration of HIV prevention and PrEP services in diverse US correctional settings and during the critical period following release. It also highlighted innovative HIV status-neutral approaches, fostering holistic and comprehensive HIV care, treatment, and prevention services in these settings.
Presenters:
Jeannette Webb, BS, University of Chicago
Russell Brewer, DrPH, University of Chicago
Chad Zawitz, MD, Cook County Health, Chicago
Gjvar Payne, Capitol Area Reentry Program, Baton Rouge
Louise Bienvenu, JD, Frontline Legal Services, New Orleans
Anna Miti Joins The Choice Agenda (TCA) as Co-Moderator
AVAC and The Choice Agenda (TCA) are delighted to welcome Anna Miti as the TCA’s new co-moderator. Based in Harare, Zimbabwe, Anna is a seasoned journalist, advocate for gender equality, an AVAC Cure Fellow, former AVAC Advocacy Fellow and co-convener of the Zimbabwe Media Science Cafe, who brings her passion for amplifying community voices to this role.
Launched by AVAC with Jim Pickett in April 2022, TCA is a global forum for advocacy on the latest in HIV prevention. With monthly webinars hosting informed discussions and a moderated listserv of nearly 3,000 subscribers from 40+ countries, TCA offers the HIV prevention community a platform to come together, learn from one another and chart the way forward. Anna will work alongside Jim and the AVAC team to foster inclusive advocacy around efforts to expand equitable access to HIV prevention tools around the world.
“As a long-time member of the TCA, I have valued it as a place for robust discussions and a vital platform to access new, timely and relevant information. I am excited to now contribute to this platform as co-moderator. Together with other advocates, I aim to strengthen the TCA’s impact and contribute even more to HIV and science advocacy.” – Anna Miti, TCA co-moderator
“On behalf of the TCA community, I am thrilled to welcome Anna into the brand-new role of co-moderator. Her dedication to HIV prevention research advocacy, her deep well of experience, and her exceptional communication skills will help us improve and expand our work to support HIV prevention research literacy and advocacy. The sun never sets on TCA, and I couldn’t be happier to have such a savvy, partner to help us take TCA to the next level.” – Jim Pickett, AVAC senior consultant and TCA moderator.
PxPulse’s new episode, Lenacapavir: The case for investing in delivering HIV prevention, goes deep on LEN. Recorded just days before Gilead’s announcement that PURPOSE 2, its second major trial of LEN as injectable PrEP, also found very high efficacy, Dr. Flavia Kiweewa, a principal investigator of PURPOSE 1, 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.
The PURPOSE 1 trial announced findings in June that a twice-yearly injection of LEN was 100% effective among cisgender women, with zero new cases of HIV. And the PURPOSE 2 trial among cisgender men, and trans and non-binary people, was shown to reduce the risk of HIV by 96%.
LEN now enters a select category, one of five ARV-based options for PrEP that all protect against HIV if you take them. But many of the people applauding the results from PURPOSE 1 and 2 will tell you that breakthrough science like this, as hard as it is, is still the easy part. Breaking the back of the HIV epidemic demands overcoming an altogether different challenge — coordinating and accelerating every step in rolling out new products so that everyone who needs HIV prevention can get it.
Listen to this podcast to learn what must be done to finally deliver on the promise of highly effective HIV prevention, from pills to rings to injectable PrEP and beyond.
Avac Event
Breaking New Ground: Expanding Access to Lenacapavir—Lessons from Dolutegravir and the Future of HIV Prevention
This UAN Call, titled Breaking New Ground: Expanding Access to Lenacapavir—Lessons from Dolutegravir and the Future of HIV Prevention, brought together global health experts, community advocates, and civil society organizations to discuss the challenges and opportunities in ensuring equitable access to Lenacapavir.
This webinar was hosted by Unitaid.
Avac Event
Restrategizing Civil Society Engagement for Pandemic and Global Governance
As we are building back from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, current and future generations face multiple grand-scale challenges, including the climate crisis, related disasters, pollution, and biodiversity loss. These challenges also heighten the threat of future pandemics from emerging or re-emerging diseases. On the 14th of August 2024, the WHO has declared the Mpox outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), which highlighted the growing concerns.
The recent amendments to the IHR (2005), agreed upon during the 77th World Health Assembly, are pivotal in enhancing global health regulations. These amendments aim to address the shortcomings revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fundamental changes include a broadened definition of pandemic emergencies, principles of solidarity and equality, and reinforced WHO authority.
We aim to draw lessons from the successful experiences of diverse CSOs in enhancing inclusivity in multilateral discussions and implementation of agreements/treaties on topics such as one health, other health issues, climate, human rights, and more. For example, the processes leading to the Paris Agreement have set important precedents for integrating diverse voices and ensuring meaningful participation in global decision-making. Indigenous groups have also been involved in the inception to implementation processes of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
This side event aims to serve as a consolidation platform for civil society to share and find strategies that redefine civil society roles in global decision-making processes that address health threats such as future pandemics, climate crises, and others.
Objectives
The side event will reassess the strategies utilized to expand the role and involvement of civil society in global governance for health, climate, and other development sectors. The event’s objectives are further detailed in the following:
To explore and develop concrete strategies that enhance participatory, inclusive global governance for health, climate, human rights and other global challenges, starting from the Pandemic Agreement through meaningful civil society engagement, particularly in the face of shrinking civic spaces.
To foster collaborations among CSOs from multiple sectors to advance health and health-related development agendas.
Moderator:
Samantha Rick, Multilateral Engagement and Pandemic Preparedness Advocacy Specialist, AVAC
Speakers:
Eloise Todd, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Pandemic Action Network
Lawrence O. Gostin, Faculty Director O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law
Neil Vora, Executive Director of Preventing Pandemics at the Source
Olivia Herlinda, Chief Research and Policy at CISDI
Avac Event
Sustainability of the HIV/AIDS Response – Getting to 2030 & Beyond
The state of the HIV/AIDs endemic is reaching a critical point requiring evaluation of the current state of the global response, progress made thus far, and planning for post-2030 goals. The National Academy of Medicine is hosting a timely international meeting to facilitate discussion on these issues.
This one-day workshop is being held on September 18, 2024, from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM US Eastern. Ambassador John N. Nkengasong, the Senior Bureau Official for Global Health Security and Diplomacy at the US State Department, will deliver the opening remarks. His address will set the stage for discussions across three subsequent panels.
Broadly, the goals of this workshop are to:
Explore how we can re-energize the global HIV response to reach the 2030 goals but also to look beyond.
Craft strategies to increase and sustain political commitment.
Highlight global accountability and domestic-donor financing.
AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS:
Introduction and Welcome
Victor Dzau,National Academy of Medicine
Carlos del Rio,Emory University and National Academy of Medicine
A summary of response since the setting of the 2030 agenda – successes, shortfalls, areas to evolve – and discussion of how to build upon momentum to design impactful, sustained response post-2030.
Sustaining Political Commitment to Ending HIV as a Public Health Threat
Discussion of how to sustain and increase global political support for prioritizing the HIV response to end the epidemic and sustain support post 2030.
Global Accountability: Domestic and Donor Support
A conversation on strategies to garner joint accountability as well as domestic and donor support for current and future financing of the HIV response.
Avac Event
Do Vaginas Demand Perfection? Implications for Event-Driven PrEP
Dr. Jenell Stewart (University of Minnesota, Hennepin Healthcare) joined The Choice Agenda to discuss and analyze recent research on HIV PrEP and implications for event driven PrEP across sex and gender.
