A call to action for faith leaders from across the region to join in solidarity in defense of human rights and evidence-based HIV prevention, including for vulnerable populations.
A Call to Greater Action
Mobilizing People of Faith to Build Networks to Protect Human Rights and Overcome Homophobia
AVAC Commemorates World AIDS Day
This World AIDS Day we at AVAC are reflecting on remarkable gains and increasing threats to progress against AIDS. Our latest issue of PxWire, tracking trends in research, development and delivery of HIV prevention options, speaks to this important progress:
- Global initiations of oral PrEP surpassed 5 million in 2023.
- Studies to implement the monthly dapvirine vaginal ring and the two-month injectable cabotegravirfor PrEP are ongoing in 22 countries, and we’ll see a 40% increase in doses of CAB available for these studies through 2025.
- The HIV prevention pipeline continues to evolve with new trials and an agenda for the research enterprise that leverages insights from recent trials.
- Five countries have reached the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets with more than 29 million people accessing treatment, and global incidence continuing to decline – in some places, among some populations.
However, as we look to 2024, all these gains could be imperiled by political and financial choices facing leaders today.
- Will the US Congress recognize the unparalleled success of PEPFAR and safeguard its funding through a clean 5-year reauthorization?
- Will global health stakeholders coordinate and commit to a new paradigm in delivering HIV prevention, one that will support the rollout of any option for HIV prevention and beyond?
- Will health officials and policy makers embrace the Choice Manifesto, created by HIV advocates and adopted by UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, calling for the essential investments that will bring these diverse options to the communities that need them most?
- Will champions for democracy, civil rights and evidence-based unite against a tide of increasing criminalization and persecution of the LGBTQ+ population?
The answers to these questions will require donors and political leaders to do the right thing, and it will depend on us, a global movement of advocates with a track record of world-changing achievements, to stay the course and build the road to reach everyone one of these goals. Below are a few key resources to support your work.
From the Lab to the Jab
A series of advocates guides on key issues to ensure equitable access to safe, effective, and affordable vaccines.
Call to Action for Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision
A report on next steps to advance the role of VMMC in ending the epidemic.
Good Participatory Practice: Body of Evidence
An online package of resources to support advocacy for GPP as an international standard for clinical trials.
The HIV Prevention Choice Manifesto
A historic milestone in the power of community-led leadership and prioritization of choice in HIV prevention.
Progress Against HIV and AIDS is Fragile
POZ Magazine’s interview with Mitchell Warren, with a comprehensive look at the status of the fight against HIV/AIDS and the scientific breakthroughs to date and still needed to end the epidemic.
The Anti-HIV Jab is Coming to South Africa
Bhekisisa’s Mia Malan and AVAC’s Mitchell Warren breakdown what it will take to get injectable CAB for PrEP to everyone who needs it.
A Call to Action: Scale Up HPV Vaccination in People Living with HIV
In a new call to action, Mitchell Warren and Heather White, executive director of TogetHER for Health, argue that the time is now to invest in efforts to ensure that people living with HIV can live their lives without the threat of cervical cancer.
At AVAC, we believe it’s up to all of us to make sure the world does not squander another decade in slow, fragmented rollout of life-saving innovation in HIV prevention or risk underfunding research and development. If we work together to build equity into the rollout of options that exist already and support the promise of expanding choices in the near future, the world will at long last bend the curve of HIV.
AVAC and Partners at ICASA 2023
Join AVAC and partners for the biennial International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (ICASA), in Harare, Zimbabwe December 4-9. More than 30 of our partners will convene at the meeting to champion community leadership and amplify their role in shaping local, national and global responses and delivering impactful advocacy. Community leadership on a range of issues are instrumental to:
- Accelerate and expand access to proven prevention options that people want and need.
- Dismantle the structural barriers to health faced by key populations.
- Intensify demands for robust domestic and global funding for health.
- Integrate HIV services with sexual and reproductive health.
- And much more.
Scroll down for a roadmap to ICASA’s prevention program, and details on sessions and events that you won’t want to miss.
- Download the ICASA Prevention Roadmap
- Visit us and our CASPR partners at booth #9
- Check out our partners at the Women’s Networking Zone in the Community Village
- Follow the conversation on Twitter
Sessions of Interest
Sunday, December 3
- Biomedical Prevention Forum
9:00-15:00 GMT
The Biomedical Prevention Forum will be held as a hybrid event bringing together advocates, civil society representatives, researchers, government officials and front-line providers to explore and discuss the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities in biomedical HIV prevention, while emphasizing the importance of choice and its transformative impact on HIV prevention efforts. This is an open event. Register here. - Key Populations Preconference
9:00-15:00 GMT
The Africa Key Populations Experts Group (AKPEG), African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA), the African Network of People Using Drugs (AfricanPUD) and African Queer Youth Initiative (AQYI) Advocates for Prevention of HIV and AIDS in Africa (APHA), Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC) and partners will host a safe platform to deliberate on the state of the HIV epidemic among Key Populations and to determine the stumbling blocks for progress on the path that ends AIDS for Key Populations.
Monday, December 4
- Empowering Intergenerational Leadership for Women-Controlled HIV Prevention Options: A Path to Ending AIDS by 2030
10:40-11:20 GMT
This satellite session, hosted by ICWEA and APHA, is dedicated to exploring the critical role of women-controlled HIV prevention options. Partners will share and discuss the recently launched HIV Prevention Choice Manifesto, a call for political will and financial investment to ensure access to the prevention options that women and girls in Africa say that they want and need. - Shaping the future of choice in prevention: Gearing up for the rollout of the Dual Prevention Pill, the newest MPT in the toolbox
12:25-13:10 GMT
The Dual Prevention Pill (DPP), a daily pill combining oral PrEP and combined hormonal oral contraception for dual pregnancy and HIV prevention, could be introduced in the next two years and would be the only other MPT available in addition to male and female condoms – and the first MPT containing PrEP. This session will discuss the latest learnings from the DPP Consortium, a coalition of organizations preparing for the introduction of the DPP in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Kenya.
Tuesday, December 5
- Advancing Integrated Biomedical Prevention: Best Practices from Zimbabwe (Session 2)
8:45-09:30 GMT
This satellite session will discuss best practices and lessons learned from the delivery of biomedical HIV prevention and Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision services as we work to further universal health coverage and robust health systems. Partners will launch a global call to action to unite, mobilize, and advocate for continued prioritized funding, sustained commitment, and strategic integration of VMMC into national and global prevention strategies. - Catalyzing a sustainable HIV prevention agenda: Approaches to expand local action on global commitments
10:45-11:30 GMT
Leveraging new strategic plans for HIV prevention, including the PEPFAR’s 5-year Strategy and UNAIDS’ Prevention Road Map, this satellite session will discuss combination prevention in the context of a sustainable HIV response and highlight a variety of approaches and models that leverage country and stakeholder-led innovations to meet the challenge. - Coordinating Implementation Science for CAB for PrEP: BioPIC’s Implementation Study Tracker
12:25-12:35 GMT
In this oral abstract session, AVAC will present a new dashboard, which reflects all currently known activities relating to implementation research, modelling, clinical research, and landscaping for new late-stage biomedical HIV PrEP options, including cabotegravir for PrEP and the dapivirine vaginal ring. - Policy, Politics and HIV Management
13:05-13:50 GMT
In this oral abstract session, Princess Mharire from Pangaea Zimbabwe AIDS Trust (PZAT) will present, Beyond Metrics: How the Simple Participatory Assessment of Real Change (SPARC) Tool Provides a Holistic Approach to Advocacy Measurement, and Joseph Njowa of PZAT will share the COMPASS MERL model in a presentation, Innovative tools for planning, monitoring, and evaluation of advocacy campaigns.
Wednesday, December 7
- A Whole Government Approach: Addressing a Multi-layered Challenge of New HIV Infections, SGBV and Adolescent Pregnancy (Triple Threat)
12:05-12:50 GMT
This concurrent session will feature AVAC’s Grace Kumwenda, Regional Program Manager for Research Engagement.
Friday, December 8
- Strengthen integration for better SRHR outcomes
10:45-11:30 GMT
This concurrent session will feature Advocates for Prevention of HIV and AIDS in Africa’s (APHA) Yvette Raphael and will explore linkages between unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortion, and HIV. - HIV Prevention-Right Place, Right time
13:05-13:50 GMT
This concurrent session will feature Maureen Luba of AVAC, Definate Nhamo of PZAT and Yvette Raphael of APHA.
AVAC and Partner Poster Presentations
Tuesday, December 5
- Maximizing private pharmacies for PrEP delivery to increase uptake: Lessons learnt from the Community Retail Pharmacy Distribution Point, Ruth Akulu
Wednesday, December 6
- Journalist Training: A Key Advocacy Strategy, Catherine Madebe
- Perceptions on the new biomedical HIV prevention methods among adolescent girls and young women in tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe, Cleo Makura
- Lessons from Crisis Response from TaNPUD in Enhancing Harm Reduction from 2015 to 2018, Marineus Mutongore
- Implementing Community led Monitoring for improved quality of HIV services in Tanzania, Mathew Kawogo
- Impact of social media exposure on HIV services uptake among Tanzanian Young people: Implications for enhancing the HIV response, Marineus Mutongore
- Effective Strategies for Operating COWLHA support groups of Adolescents Living with HIV: Case of Mangochi and Chikwawa Districts of Malawi, Harry Madukani
Thursday, December 7
- Understanding Choice of HIV Prevention Options among Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) in Zambia, Natasha Mwila
- Leveraging HIV to Build a Global Health Research and Development (R&D) Equity Advocacy Agenda, John Meade
- Championing advocacy for domestic resource mobilization for health research and development in Africa, Ethel Makila
Friday, December 8
- Rural Youth: Underserved and Unsafe When Seeking Care, Liyema Somnono
- Redefining Coalition Governance and Leadership in Support of Decolonizing Global Health: The Evolution of the COMPASS Coalition, Roberta Sutton
- Collaborative Monitoring & Evaluation to Support Learning and Strengthen Advocacy Coalitions: The MERL Hub, Grace Tetteh
- Realities faced by street children predisposing them to HIV and STIs in Dodoma and Dar es Salaam Cities in Tanzania, Simon Shilagwa
African Civil Society Mobilization for PEPFAR Reauthorization
Tuesday, November 28 at 7:00 AM ET
Moderator: Richard Muko, Regional Implementation Advocacy Manager, AVAC
Panelists: Joan Chamungu, Tanzanian Network of Women Living with HIV, Lawrence Khonyongwa, Malawi Network of People of Living with HIV, TBC, African Network of Youth Living with HIV, Annette Gaudino, Advocacy Coalition Manager, GAPP
Hosted by African Network of Youth Living with HIV (AY+), East African Network of AIDS Serving Organizations (EANNASO), Key Populations Trans-National Collaboration (KPTNC) and Coalition to build Momentum, Power, Activism, Strategy & Solidarity (COMPASS)
Join civil society organizations in PEPFAR recipient countries to discuss the status and political context of the current reauthorization and mobilize to call on the US Congress to recommit this life sustaining program. Bring your questions and please share this invitation widely in your relevant networks.
Pandemic Accord Briefing for Civil Society & Community Partners
The Pandemic Accord negotiations are ongoing, and should come to fruition next year. What do they mean for your work, your country, and the future of global health?
On Tuesday, November 21, 8:00 to 9:30 AM EST / 2:00 to 3:30 PM CEST, advocates came together to discuss two years of talks and what’s next to progress global health equity.
PrEP Resources Showcase
This dynamic, workshop-style showcase was the first of a series that featured multimedia presentations that took participants through key PrEP resources including: A toolkit to ensure programs related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV prevention are well designed to reach and support adolescent girls and young women. Comprehensive databases for tracking PrEP uptake, Implementation research and other critical data by product, country, and population.
Small groups had opportunities to take deep dives into each of the above resources, and explore how they might use these in their work. Additionally, participants provided input on what resources are still needed, collaborate on how to improve and disseminate what exists, and support the development of evidence and networks to advance HIV prevention.
Global PrEP Tracker video / Integrated Study Dashboard video / Breaking the Cycle Toolkit video
On Transgender Day of Remembrance AVAC Announces TG ROAR 2023
Today, on Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), as communities across the globe memorialize trans and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people targeted by violence and state-sanctioned bigotry, AVAC honors the trans community—those lost and those among us. We are committed, now more than ever, to fight these ongoing injustices and support TGNC advocates to lead on issues facing their communities.
Riding the momentum of the release of the No Data No More Manifesto and the Trans-Inclusivity Scorecard, AVAC is relaunching TG ROAR, a program from our larger PxROAR initiative, dedicated to supporting TGNC HIV advocates in Eastern and Southern Africa. The new eight-member cohort will campaign for trans-centered, HIV research and service delivery while addressing the social, political and economic barriers that all too often stand in the way.
Crimes against TGNC are on the rise as are rates of HIV incidence in trans populations. TGNC face unique barriers to testing, adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and maintaining viral suppression. Without meaningful trans inclusion in advocacy efforts there will be no epidemic control.
Learn more about AVAC’s new cohort of TG ROAR advocates here:
We continue to fight for transgender rights and invest in TGNC leadership to create a more equitable and just future for all.
Announcing the Good Participatory Practice Body of Evidence
We are thrilled to announce the Good Participatory Practice (GPP) Body of Evidence, a new online clearinghouse of case studies and analyses demonstrating the power of GPP, along with tools, templates and trainings for GPP implementation. The resources we’ve gathered for this much-needed “one-stop GPP shop” can be used to show the impact of GPP to date, how it can be measured going forward, and its practical application in real-time.
The Good Participatory Practice Guidelines have been shaping and improving HIV prevention 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.
Over the past 16 years, the original GPP guidelines for HIV prevention have been issued in 10 languages and adapted to other disease areas, including tuberculosis, COVID-19, and emerging pathogens. GPP has given rise to a robust global community of practice, with an expansive history of lessons learned and success stories for the world to build upon.
But GPP implementation is far from easy. Because GPP looks different in every context and outcomes can be difficult to quantify, engagement work is often seen as secondary to clinical processes, and therefore undervalued and under-resourced. The GPP Body of Evidence demonstrates the contribution of GPP to the research enterprise, and the professionalization of GPP implementation.
Rest assured that this is not a one-off effort! Stay tuned for a webinar series in 2024 with key partners including WHO and Wellcome Trust that will highlight critical issues in stakeholder engagement in research, linking to corresponding resources from the Body of Evidence. And we’ll be keeping the Body of Evidence up to date – so please reach out if you have resources to add.
It’s time for GPP to become an international standard for clinical research. Making that case and making it happen, using the GPP Body of Evidence, has never been easier.
Avac Event
African Civil Society Mobilization for PEPFAR Reauthorization
Tuesday, November 28 at 7:00 AM ET
Moderator: Richard Muko, Regional Implementation Advocacy Manager, AVAC
Panelists: Joan Chamungu, Tanzanian Network of Women Living with HIV, Lawrence Khonyongwa, Malawi Network of People of Living with HIV, TBC, African Network of Youth Living with HIV, Annette Gaudino, Advocacy Coalition Manager, GAPP
Hosted by African Network of Youth Living with HIV (AY+), East African Network of AIDS Serving Organizations (EANNASO), Key Populations Trans-National Collaboration (KPTNC) and Coalition to build Momentum, Power, Activism, Strategy & Solidarity (COMPASS)
Join civil society organizations in PEPFAR recipient countries to discuss the status and political context of the current reauthorization and mobilize to call on the US Congress to recommit this life sustaining program. Bring your questions and please share this invitation widely in your relevant networks.
Results from STI Landscaping Analyses in East and Southern Africa—Parts 1 and 2
Hear results from STI landscaping projects conducted in seven different countries from East and Southern Africa that explored needs for STI vaccines and diagnostics.
Part 1 Recording / Part 2 Recording
Latu Human Rights Foundation Slides / ACTS 101 Uganda Slides / Journalists Association Against AIDS (JournAIDS) Slides/ Lesotho Network of AIDS Service Organizations (LENASO) Slides / HIV Survivors and Partners Network (HIVSPN) Slides / Pangaea Zimbabwe AIDS Trust (PZAT) Slides / Nyanza Reproductive Health Society (NRHS) Slides