The authors recommend research ethics committees (RECs) amend their application forms to better ‘trigger’ researchers to thoughtfully plan sound stakeholder engagement. In the longer term, RECs’ documents should be better harmonised internally regarding their stance on stakeholder engagement.
How can research ethics committees help to strengthen stakeholder engagement in health research in South Africa? An evaluation of REC documents
Essential Principles & Practices for GPP Compliance: Engaging stakeholders in biomedical research during the era of COVID-19
This document is a new tool to help guide stakeholder engagement in COVID-19 research. Built from the Good Participatory Practice Guidelines for Biomedical HIV Prevention Trials (GPP), this document responds to needs expressed by both researchers and advocates as the world watched COVID-19 research progress with unprecedented speed and urgency.
Ethical considerations in HIV prevention trials
UNAIDS and the World Health Organization have published this updated guidance on ethical considerations in HIV prevention trials. The new guidance is the result of a year-long process that saw more than 80 experts and members of the public give inputs and is published 21 years after the first edition appeared.
COMPASS
Since 2017, the Coalition to Build Momentum, Power, Strategy and Solidarity has broken new ground in transnational HIV activism that’s grounded in rigorous analysis, fearless tactics and collaboration across geographies. We’re winning commitments and changes that will drive epidemic control. Read on to see what the future of AIDS activism looks like.
Advocates Call for Ethical Research for COVID-19 Solutions
More than 260 organizations and individuals have joined an Advocates Call for Ethical Research for COVID-19 Solutions. Read the letter reiterating the essential role of ethical research, and the need to move forward based on facts and evidence, and help us carry this message forward!
AVAC’s “3D” View of the World: 2019 and beyond
This infographic lays out AVAC’s top-line recommendations from AVAC Report 2019: Now What? The recommendations fall into three categories: deliver — prevention programs whose impact is well-measured and -defined; demonstrate — next-generation engagement for next-generation trials; develop — new targets for the post-2020 world.
Visualizing Multisectoral Prevention: The DREAMS program theory of change
This is PEPFAR’s own visualization of how its AGYW programs can effect change. It’s notable for the definition of a care package that touches on the individual and her community, and for the way it defines a range of outcomes. There isn’t anything comparable for PEPFAR’s Key Population Investment Fund, which is infusing resources into a range of countries. Some of that funding is going for ART; for primary prevention, a theory of change linked to incidence is a must. AVAC is working with allies in KPIF countries to make this demand.
Excerpted from AVAC Report 2019: Now What?
An Activist’s Guide to Influencing and Monitoring KPIF Rollout
Two-page guide for advocates and activists working on the engagement of key population-led groups in the implementation planning of PEPFAR’s Key Population Investment Fund (KPIF). Includes information on the fund, KPIF countries, lead agencies in each country, activist demands and to-do list.
Women Speak: Preparing for the results of the ECHO trial
Civil society led by and for women in Africa is working with allies around the world to prepare for the ECHO results and advance a broader agenda of sexual health and rights that centers women and affirms the right to full information and informed choice, as well as integration of HIV and sexual and reproductive health programs. Reports from civil society forum meetings in 2018, as well as key resources, are available here.
GPP @ 10
A decade ago, UNAIDS and AVAC published the Good Participatory Practice Guidelines for Biomedical HIV Prevention Trials (GPP). Created to provide a consistent global standard for stakeholder engagement across the research life-cycle, GPP has emerged as a point of reference for how to engage stakeholders. It has also given rise to a robust community of practice.
After ten years of implementation, AVAC offers a look back at GPP and a vision for its future — and we explain why GPP’s true potential lies in the hands not just of research groups, but of civil society, trials participants, and an array of stakeholders in the research endeavor.