SCOPE Community E-meeting: Developments in PrEP implementation issues
The European AIDS Treatment Group, along with European and local organizations are coming together for a virtual meeting via Zoom e-meeting on Wednesday, May 24 at 6:00 to 7:30 AM ET (12:00 – 13:30 PM CET).
This interactive e-meeting for community educators and advocates will provide an update on the latest developments and issues in PrEP implementation. Participants will learn from each other and discuss community preferences, uptake and access issues, as well as advocacy efforts to overcome policy and financial barriers at local, regional and European level. Live interpretation in English and Russian will be provided. This meeting is part of the SCOPE Project.
Avac Event
Women Deliver 2023
The Women Deliver 2023 Conference (WD2023) will take place in Kigali, Rwanda and online from July 17 to July 20.
Women Deliver convenings catalyze conversations with stakeholders from around the world, break barriers, address challenges, and identify opportunities to advance gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and improve the wellbeing of girls and women, in all their intersecting identities.
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
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.
Follow events in real time with the official hashtag, #STIHIV2023, AVAC will offer comments and updates on Twitter.
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.
Avac Event
STD Engage 2023
STD Engage 2023 will take place in-person in New Orleans, Louisiana (US) this year from May 16-18, 2023, with pre-conference events on May 15.
STD Engage is an annual US meeting that brings together state and local sexual health professionals and their community-based partners for cross-jurisdictional collaboration and problem-solving. This conference is hosted by National Coalition of STD Directors.
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!
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!
Global PPPR Equity: Why do we need agreements on IP and tech transfers?
April 6, 2023, 9:00AM Washington/2:00PM London/4:00PM Nairobi
Over the past two decades, HIV advocates have engaged in hard battles for equitable access to HIV/AIDS drugs and prevention options and have had some big wins. The process of these negotiations has led to strong relationships that have enshrined certain equity provisions as standard in clinical trials and manufacturing of HIV drugs. Through these battles, we’ve learned clear lessons on the necessity for such agreements and what’s required to secure them.
Throughout global PPPR agreements in 2023, governments and advocates in the Global South are asking for provisions on equity in the form of temporary IP waivers, mandatory tech transfer, and mandatory licensing for pandemic tools.
This panel will discuss lessons from the HIV epidemic and explore why governments of the Global South and advocates think we still need to address ‘the IP question’.
Featured Speakers: Fifa Rahman, Brook Baker, Fitsum Lakew, and Esteban Burrone
PEP Needs Some pep! Addressing PEP Neglect in HIV Prevention Research, Programming and Uptake
PEP, post-exposure-prophylaxis, is an HIV prevention intervention marked by both great promise and profound neglect. It is useful in both occupational and non-occupational contexts—yet uptake, especially in non-occupational contexts—is poor in most places on the planet. Our panel unpacked the issues and offered research, policy, and programming ideas to address PEP neglect and realize its potential.
Speakers
Dr. James Ayieko, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)
Dr. Julie Fox, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust/ Kings College
