Avac Event

Tales from Two Cities: HIV and STI research highlights from Brisbane and Chicago

August 3, 2023 at 9am ET

(Time Converter)

TCA’s invited experts will share their highlights and reflections on the HIV and STI-related science presented at two major global health conferences. These conferences include IAS 2023, taking place in Brisbane, Australia July 23 – 26 and the 2023 STI and HIV World Congress happening in Chicago (United States) from July 24 – July 27.

Speakers include:
Dr. Aniruddha Hazra – University of Chicago
Nyaradzo M Mgodi – University of Zimbabwe
Roger Pebody – NAM, Aidsmap.com
Charlie Peterson – University of Illinois – Chicago

AVAC Statement on Uganda’s Anti-Gay Law and Other Resources

As we prepared this collection of highlights and resources on a wide range of issues, we learned that Uganda’s President Museveni had signed into law the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023. You’ll find our statement condemning Uganda’s enactment of the hate-filled and dangerous new law at the top our newsletter, and we hope you’ll follow the links in this statement to our partners who are working in solidarity to defeat it. Around the world, the voices of advocates have never been more important, and our joint action to oppose hate and discrimination is imperative now, to sustain the gains that have been made against HIV, to save lives, and to fulfill the promise of equity in global health.

Scroll down for other resources and updates that are shaping global health and the HIV response. These include: new data and infographics in PxWire; perspectives from the World Health Assembly; upcoming webinars on vaccine manufacturing and broadly neutralizing antibodies; new publications on multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs); highlights from the PrEP in Black America Summit; new STI resources; and a recent webinar on expanding HIV cure research across Africa!

AVAC Condemns Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023
AVAC’s statement denounces the decision by Uganda President Yoweri Museveni to sign the legislation into law and calls for solidarity with Uganda’s LGBTQIA+ and civil rights advocates who are demanding the courts uphold Uganda’s constitution and prevent this law from going forward.

The Latest Px Wire
Our quarterly snapshot of biomedical HIV prevention R&D, implementation and advocacy features updates and infographics on oral PrEP uptake, implementation science studies with injectable cabotegravir for PrEP and the dapivirine vaginal ring, and incidence rates from HIV prevention trials over the past 25 years.

The World Health Assembly and PPPR
As the World Health Assembly made news last week by approving a 20 percent increase to the WHO budget, advocates are calling the early draft of the pandemic accord a step backward for equity. Several moving pieces are setting up a new architecture for global health. Learn how all this work on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPPR) fits together, and where advocates can engage in AVAC’s Advocates Guide for PPPR in 2023. For further background, read our position paper on PPPR and find links to related webinars and podcasts here.

For perspective on increased funding to the WHO and the evolving new architecture for global health, listen to A Shot In The Arm podcast episode, “Too Fund or Not Too Fund The WHO. That is the question”, featuring a conversation with AVAC Executive Director, Mitchell Warren, Global Health Council Executive Director Elisha Dunn-Georgiou and podcast host Ben Plumley.

And, UNAIDS and the Global HIV Prevention Coalition hosted a special session, A High-Level Dialogue on Accelerating HIV Prevention and Future Pandemics. Check it out to hear civil society representatives, ministers of health, and leaders of UNAIDS, The Global Fund, PEPFAR and AVAC talk about the opportunities and challenges in delivering on the promise of current HIV prevention options.

SAVE THE DATE: Two Upcoming Vaccine Webinars
On May 18th, AVAC and the Coalition to Accelerate & Support Prevention Research (CASPR) marked HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD) with a package of resources, and highlights of activities. Our HVAD program continues with two upcoming webinars exploring the changing landscape of vaccine research, development and advocacy.

What’s All the Buzz About: mRNA, manufacturing, vaccines access
Thursday, June 1 at 10am ET / 4pm SAST. Register here.

To bNAb or not to bNAb? The case for broadly neutralizing antibodies
Wednesday, June 7 at 10 AM ET / 4 PM SAST. Register here.

Paving The Way for The Dual Prevention Pill
Frontiers in Reproductive Health published a special issue on MPTs! AVAC’s Kate Segal is a co-author of Equipping providers to offer novel MPTs: Developing counseling messages for the Dual Prevention Pill in clinical studies and beyond, and partners from CHAI and the DPP Consortium contributed the article Cost-effectiveness of the dual prevention pill for contraception and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis.

PrEP in Black America
The 2023 summit on PrEP in Black America ended May 19 on a high note with a crucial policy conversation with the Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, Harold Philips, on a proposal to advance a national PrEP program in the US. Interested to learn more? Check out the 2023 report from PrEP in Black America, For Us, By Us: PrEP In Black America: A Master Plan For HIV Prevention In Black America.

STI Advocacy
AVAC has been expanding our advocacy for STI prevention, from better diagnostics to vaccine development. The recent conference of the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) featured key discussions on resource allocation and on DoxyPEP, with guidelines expected from the CDC before the end of year. See our new STI factsheet, watch the TCA October 2022 webinar on Doxy for STIs, and bookmark STI Watch.org for further background.

Pioneering HIV Cure Research Where It’s Needed Most
AVAC and a number of partners hosted Advancing HIV Cure to Africa: What is needed? The webinar features two panel discussions on how researchers, communities and other stakeholders from high income countries can work equitably with low- and middle-income countries in the interests of an HIV cure for all. Find the recording and learn more here.

AVAC Condemns Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023

AVAC strongly condemns Uganda’s new Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 that President Yoweri Museveni signed into law and stands in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community in Uganda.

“This newly signed legislation expands on a previous attempt to legislate hate and oppression of the LGBTQIA+ community in Uganda nearly a decade ago,” said Angelo Kaggwa-Katumba, Senior Program Manager at AVAC. “As LGBTQIA+ people and allies, AVAC and our partners have been tireless in our work to change attitudes and policy – in Uganda and around the world – because we’ve seen the direct link between criminalization and stigma and the devastating impact both have on HIV incidence. This new law is a direct violation of the health, rights and humanity of the LGBTQIA+ community, and will undermine and reverse Uganda’s progress in HIV prevention, destroying community wellbeing and taking lives along the way.”

The new law increases penalties for consensual sex among same-sex individuals, provisions that Uganda has had on the books as anti-sodomy laws from the British colonial era. It also criminalizes advocacy that supports LGBTQIA+ Ugandan rights, and could even bring death sentences, for so-called “aggravated homosexuality,” a clause that can be applied to people living with HIV, intensifying stigma and a cascade of other harms. Such provisions drive people underground, discouraging the most vulnerable populations from seeking testing, treatment and prevention, and they will setback the fight against HIV.

Advocates have pledged to challenge the constitutionality of the law before the courts, as detailed in this statement from Convening for Equality (CFE), a Ugandan LGBTQIA+ community-led Coalition working alongside a broad range of national and international partners. In addition, leaders of the Global Fund, UNAIDS and PEPFAR have also issued a Joint Statement by the Leaders of the on Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023, stating their “deep concern about the harmful impact” of the law “on the health of its citizens and its impact on the AIDS response that has been successful up to now.”

“We must come together and make our voices resoundingly clear: we must stand as one, united in our determination to dismantle this oppressive regime of intolerance,” said Richard Lusimbo, a Co-Convener of CFE, Director General of the Uganda Key Populations Consortium (UKPC), and long-time AVAC partner. “Today, we reaffirm our unwavering commitment, declaring that we will not rest until the shackles of this dangerous law are broken. We will tirelessly strive until equality and justice prevail over discrimination and hate. Let this be the rallying cry igniting change, fueling our collective efforts to create a future where everyone is celebrated for their uniqueness and embraced unconditionally.”

Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act is one of the world’s most extreme anti-gay laws, in a period when several other countries, including the US, are seeing an increasing number of anti-LGBTQIA+ laws proposed.

“This law is part of a global increase in extremism focused on moralizing behavior related to sexual and reproductive health that could set back decades of progress in building community-focused health services,” said Mitchell Warren, AVAC executive director. “The now signed anti-gay bill in Uganda is the latest in a wave of anti-LGBTQIA+ actions in several countries, from arrests in Zambia to a backlash in Kenya, to anti-trans laws in several US states and elsewhere, all of which threaten lives and livelihoods, and our ability to connect key populations with the resources they need and deserve to prevent and treat HIV and to live their fullest lives. If this were happening in any one country, it would be alarming, but the fact that it’s happening in multiple countries, in multiple parts of the world, is downright chilling.”

“Global, regional, national and local leaders must stand up and fight back against these heinous laws. If we don’t deal with the fundamental reality of stigma, discrimination and criminalization, we will never end any epidemic. We stand in solidarity with all allies and partners committed to turning the tide from hate and fear to global health equity for all,” Warren added.

PrEP (In)equity: Documenting, measuring, and flipping the script towards justice

Tuesday, May 9 at 9:00 AM–10:30AM ET

Disparities in PrEP awareness, access, and uptake are stark in the United States, and play out along lines of race, gender, age, and geography. While we see increases in PrEP uptake overall, these metrics tend to mask the fact that the people who most need PrEP are not to be found in those numbers. As we see new modes of PrEP delivery become available, we are concerned these “shiny new things” will be yet another way to measure disparities and not actually help those who most need it. We must focus on these inequities with laser-like intensity, allocate resources using an equity model, and strive harder for PrEP justice.

Speakers include: Leisha-McKinley Beach, National HIV/AIDS Consultant, Michael Chancley, PrEP4All, and Dr. Patrick Sullivan, Emory

Recording / Slides / Resources

Avac Event

IAS (International AIDS Society) 2023

The 12th annual conference of the International AIDS Society (IAS) on HIV science takes place July 23–26 in Brisbane, Australia, and virtually. This year’s conference will offer the latest on vaccine and cure science, research updates on broadly neutralizing antibodies, important discussions on trial design in the era of PrEP, the potential of community-led models of care and the importance of integrating services for HIV and sexual and reproductive health (SRH). AVAC and partners will be there! Read on for an overview.

Just ahead of the conference, UNAIDS released their annual state of the epidemic report, The Path that Ends AIDS. The report charts a path that can end AIDS, and documents important progress, but challenges remain. Among them, global resources for HIV are marking another year of decline. With anti-LGTBQIA+ legal actions increasing in the US and in several African countries and reduced resources, efforts to end the epidemic will fail. See AVAC’s new graphic on the issue.

IAS Resources

  • Use AVAC’s Roadmap to find sessions where prevention, pandemic preparedness and the larger issues of global health equity are in the spotlight. You can download it as a sortable spreadsheet or PDF.
  • Follow events in real time, AVAC will offer comments and updates on Twitter, and our friends at NAM/AIDSMAP will be reporting throughout the conference. Join the conversation using the conference hashtag #IAS2023.

Satellites, Sessions and Panels Featuring AVAC and Partners

All times listed are local in Brisbane, Australia. Click for a time zone converter.

Sunday, July 23

Tuesday, July 25

Wednesday, July 26

Poster Presentations

  • No Data No More: A tool to end the exclusion of trans and gender-diverse people in HIV research
  • Raising New Voices in HIV Cure Research: A review of an advocacy-for-cure academy and grant program
  • The Value of Measuring Outcomes of HIV Advocacy: Utilising a novel and participatory approach for advocacy evaluation
  • HIV Prevention Research & Development Investments 2001-2021: Shifting investment priorities fund innovation in a challenging global health landscape
  • Revolution of Transgender Health Programming: The role of transgender activists in Health programming for Malawi

While many will be gathering in Australia for the IAS conference, the 27th International Society for Sexually Transmitted Diseases Research (ISSTDR)is happening in Chicago at the same time – and AVAC will be there, too. Stay tuned for an update later this week for AVAC’s STI Roadmap and dedicated STI conference page. Advocates, implementers and researchers in both fields have much work to do together.

Avac Event

STI & HIV World Congress (ISSTDR) 2023

The STI & HIV World Congress (also known as ISSTDR) kicks off in Chicago, Illinois, USA and AVAC will be there. This is the first major face-to-face meeting of STI & HIV professionals since 2019 and one of the only spaces the global STI community comes together to promote ongoing STI research efforts and exchange information on current investigations. This is also the first time AVAC is attending ISSTDR in hopes of expanding STI advocacy and community engagement.

STI & HIV World Congress Resources 

Visit STIWatch.org, a new resource for the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) community to better understand and advocate for STI vaccine and diagnostics research, development and rollout.

STI & HIV World Congress 2023 Roadmap

Check out some AVAC-featured sessions below.

The STI Prevention Pipeline: Where Are We, and What Will It Take to Move Forward Faster?
Monday, July 24 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM in the Cadmium Room
Join us to explore the current development and implementation stages of STI vaccines and diagnostics and identify ways to accelerate research through advocacy.

Symposium: New Vaccine Approaches to STI Prevention STI Vaccine Acceptance and Equity
Tuesday, July 25 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM in Chicago 6
Join AVAC’s Alison Footman to dive into the topic of STI vaccines and equity as new interventions come into reach.

Setting Up a Remote/Home Testing STI Programme: A Practical Toolkit
Thursday, July 25 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM in Sheraton IV/V Room
Join us to explore the power of remote testing to affordably curb STI acquisitions.

Community Happy Hour 
Monday, July 24, 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Lizzie McNeill’s
Join AVAC and partners for a no frills happy hour for the STI community. All are welcome! 

ISSTDR Advocacy Zone 
Monday, July 24 to Thursday, July 27 at the Exhibit Hall
Visit the Advocacy Zone, a space to ask important questions, connect with fellow STI advocates, and begin to chart next steps in advancing STI R&D.

How to Communicate about Sexual Health and STIs: Sex positivity vs. risk-based language

Thursday, April 20 at 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM ET

Join The Choice Agenda for a conversation focused on sex positivity and risk-based language when discussing sexual health and STIs.

Speakers include Dr. Keosha T. Bond, CUNY School of Medicine, Dr. Joseph Cherabie, Washington University St. Louis, Mark Kaigwa, Nendo, and moderated Alison Footman, AVAC

Webinar co-sponsored by the American Sexual Health Association.

Recording / Slides / Resources

Avac Event

AIDSImpact Conference

June 12 to 14, 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and other ongoing conflicts in the world, have globally disrupted health services and affected treatment and psychosocial care of people living with HIV.

HIV prevention including HIV testing has also been negatively affected.
In order to ensure that HIV continues to feature on the worldwide agenda, focus and determination will be required.

The theme of the AIDSImpact 2023 is therefore. Power for Action Now!

Registration and more details here.

CASPRiffic: March 2023 edition

See here the March 2023 edition of CASPRiffic. CASPRiffic is a monthly round-up of all that happened CASPR-related and what’s to come in the coming months.

Avac Event

HIV Cure Research and The Black Diaspora: Reaching critical voices

Join the REACH collaboratory on May 3 from 6:30 to 8:00 PM ET at African Services (427 W 127th St. in Harlem) for a conversation on the importance of engaging diverse populations at every stage of HIV cure research! Food and Drinks Provided from Maison Harlem and doors open at 6:00 PM ET. Help us get the right amount of food by registering in advance!

Register here.

More info in the flier below: