On February 20, 2019, the OPTIONS Consortium presented a webinar on the PrEP Communications Accelerator—an interactive tool that assists in the development of a demand creation campaign strategy to promote PrEP uptake among target audiences in sub-Saharan Africa. This webinar covered:

• The role of demand creation strategies to drive PrEP uptake
• An introduction to the PrEP Communications Accelerator
• Examples of how the PrEP Communications Accelerator is applied
• Q&A and Discussion

Presenters

• Elmari Briedenhann, Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, OPTIONS Consortium Member
• Briana Ferrigno, McCann Global Health, OPTIONS Consortium Member

You can watch a recording of the webinar here.

On Tuesday, February 26, The Population Council, IRMA and AVAC presented a webinar to learn how user choice and control inform the Council’s MPT product development strategy.

Speakers:

• Tom Zydowsky, PhD; Senior Scientist, Director of Biomedical Research & Pharmaceutical Development, Center for Biomedical Research
• Barbara Friedland, MPH; Associate II, Clinical Project Manager, Center for Biomedical Research

Moderator:

• Jim Pickett, IRMA

Recording: YouTube / Audio / Slides

The Evidence for Contraceptive Options and HIV Outcomes (ECHO) Study is an open-label, randomized, clinical trial comparing three highly effective, reversible methods of contraception — the progestogen-only injectable depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), a levonorgestrel implant, and the non-hormonal copper intrauterine device — to evaluate whether there is any difference in the risk of acquiring HIV infection among users of these methods.

Results, expected in mid-2019, will help guide the implementation of safe, effective policies and services that will enable women at high risk of HIV to make fully informed choices about contraception and HIV prevention.

The webinar featured:

• Beth Schlachter, Executive Director, FP2020
• Dr. Jared Baeten, Vice Chair, Department of Global Health, University of Washington, ECHO Consortium
• Dr. Nelly Mugo, Research Associate Professor, Global Health, University of Washington, ECHO Management Committee
• Tamar Abrams, Communications Director, FP2020

You can view the webinar recording below.

The HIV Prevention Market Manager project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is applying behavioral research and human-centred design to better understand and reach young women in South Africa with effective HIV prevention.

We previously presented the qualitative results from this study. On May 21, we presented the findings from the quantitative research, in which we surveyed almost 2,000 adolescent girls and young women on the factors that influence their decisions and behaviors along their sexual and reproductive health journey. The combined qualitative and quantitative findings also facilitated the identification of three segments or ‘types’ of AGYW, distinct in their attitudes and behaviors, with the aim of informing the design of targeted strategies, tools and interventions.

Recording: YouTube / Audio / Slides

FP2020 and AVAC held a webinar, A Roadmap for Results: Understanding the ECHO Study Results, with the ECHO team following the results announcement. The webinar explained the trial, provided topline results, outlined next steps, and offered key advocacy messages to help all stakeholders understand the findings.

On Thursday, June 27, women and our allies, participated in an interactive discussion about what the post-ECHO trial agenda for contraception and HIV should look like. This critical call aimed to help inform civil society advocates agenda for an upcoming WHO meeting on this subject. The leaders of the Civil Society Working Group on HC-HIV, members of the ECHO Global Community Advisory Group and young women advocates joined for this discussion with WHO and ECHO management team members.

Recordings & Slides: YouTube / Jared Baeten and Tim Mastro’s Slides / James Kiarie’s Slides

The IAS 2019 conference is a biennial gathering for those working in the field of HIV, including policy makers, persons living with HIV and other individuals committed to ending the epidemic, was held in Mexico City, Mexico. It featured some of the most critical advances in basic, clinical and operational research that moves science into policy and practice.

Dispatches from Mexico City

AVAC offered comments and updates on Twitter and Facebook. Search the conference hashtag — #IAS2019 to find more conference related posts.

HIV Prevention Roadmap

The IAS 2019 Conference included hundreds of sessions, pre-conferences, and meetings—many focused on HIV prevention research and implementation. We had an Excel version, sortable by focus, and a PDF version.

AVAC and Partners at IAS 2019

Press Conference:

Data from six locations inform the future of the HIV response

• This press conference unveiled a new analysis from amfAR, AVAC and Friends of the Global Fight of six case studies of progress toward epidemic control. From the report Translating Progress Into Success to End the AIDS Epidemic, the analysis identifies elements that accelerate the impact of treatment and prevention with implications for program, policy, implementation and advocacy. You can watch the livestream and watch for a future Advocates Network with links to the report post-launch.

Satellite Sessions:

“Sticky linkage”: Latest evidence and new strategies

• Segmentation of South African men – insights to improve linkage. Download the slides.

Hormonal Contraception and HIV Risk: Understanding the ECHO trials results, and what’s next for women, providers, policies, and programs

• Where are we now? A summary of the ECHO results. Download the slides.
• What’s next? An update on WHO process, interim guidance and future guidelines. Download the slides.
• National preparedness and the family planning agenda. Download the slides.

Symposia Sessions:

We’re engaged! Strategies for enhancing community-researcher relationships

• Community mobilization, effective involvement and ownership in HIV prevention research. Download the slides.

HIV testing and management in the era of PrEP

• Considerations for community messaging about HIV testing in the context of PrEP. Download the slides.

Oral Abstract Sessions:

Research by and for whom? Community engagement in research

• Bringing good participatory practice into action: Considerations and challenges from a sponsor perspective. Download the slides.
• Getting from Good Participatory Practice to Good Trial Outcomes for Everyone: how stakeholders believe GPP works (or not). Download the slides.

Prevention is more than PrEP

• Condom and oral PrEP use among female sex workers: Findings from a study in South Africa. Download the slides.
• Improving prevention choice while we wait for an HIV vaccine: Prioritizing resources for key population-specific prevention research and implementation. Download the slides.

Posters:

• Innovative demand creation changes in rolling out oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in Kenya – the Jilinde experience. Download the poster.
• Tracking Oral PrEP Access Globally: Using Initiation Trend Data to Inform Product Introduction. Download the poster.
• The Global PrEP Research Landscape: Mapping studies of oral PrEP implementation and impact. Download the poster.
• HIV prevention decisions by at-risk young women in South Africa: Proposing a novel Integrated behavioral journey framework using a mixed methods research approach.
  Download the poster.
• What we know and don’t know about adolescent girls and young women and HIV Prevention in sub-Saharan Africa: Analysis of insights across completed, ongoing and planned projects. Download the poster.

The 20th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA 2019) was December 2-7 in Kigali, Rwanda. Find details below on select events of interest. AVAC will be there along with many of our partners and participated in sessions both before and during the conference.

Table of Contents

• ICASA 2019 HIV Prevention Research Roadmap
• Pre-conferences
• Satellite and Special Sessions
• Posters
• ICASA on Social Media

ICASA 2019 HIV Prevention Research Roadmap

Amidst a wide range of topics that will be covered at the conference (full program available here), we have pulled together a roadmap of select sessions that may be of interest to those tracking biomedical prevention research and rollout. And on arrival, be sure to check out the various Networking Zone schedules in the Community Village for more great programming on prevention and more!

Download as a PDF or XLS file and please let us know of any other related events that should be added to the roadmap.

Pre-conferences:

Biomedical HIV Prevention Forum Pre-Conference
Monday, December 2, 9:00 – 17:00 at the Kigali Marriott Hotel. Register here.

The Biomedical HIV Prevention Forum (BHPF)—co-organized by AfNHi (the network of HIV prevention research advocates in Africa) and the New HIV Vaccines and Microbicides Advocacy Society (NHVMAS)—puts HIV prevention research on the spotlight by providing a unique platform where participants gather to learn about progress made and best practices in biomedical HIV prevention research and development. The forum is a space for participants to share HIV prevention research related perspectives and experiences.

Satellite and Special Sessions:

PEPFAR Watch
Tuesday, December 3, 8:00 – 11:00. RSVP here.

Does your country receive PEPFAR funding? PEPFAR’s annual planning process for 2020 is starting now. Join for a skills-building workshop—organized by Health GAP and partners—to find out how to monitor and influence PEPFAR via updates on how activists can ensure money is aligned with community priorities; share experiences and best practices to increase accountability and share tools for organizing and data analysis.

Why Do Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Costs Differ So Much: Methods or Setting?
Tuesday, December 3, 10:45 – 12:15 in room Jeanne Gapiya (MH4). Register at prep-costing.eventbrite.com.

This satellite session— co-hosted by the OPTIONS Consortium and Jilinde—will review why cost estimates and cost effectiveness of PrEP can vary so widely within and across programs, countries, and methodological approaches. Hear from a variety of programs and perspectives to identify key drivers of costs and how to make sense of estimates for use in modelling and programming.

Laying the Foundation for an HIV Cure in Africa
Tuesday, December 3, 18:30 – 20:30 in room Joel Nana (AD10).

This satellite session— organized in partnership with the International AIDS Society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Sunnylands, Georgetown University, AVAC, and the Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence (SANTHE)—aims to strengthen engagement and support in the search for an HIV cure and allow delegates to offer important insights on optimizing a future/potential HIV cure.

20 Years After Abuja, What Next?
Wednesday, December 4, 10:45 – 12:15 in room Prof. Madeleine Okome (MH 3)

This special session—organized by the Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA)—on the Abuja Declaration is a platform to evaluate the impact of various declarations on domestic funding and their implementation in Africa. The Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA) with a group of African and global HIV advocates including AVAC, has developed an African HIV Financing Scorecard in partnership with Accountability International as a means to analyse the existing funding, interrogate the gaps in required funding, and provides evidence-based advocacy messaging for action by the various stakeholders involved. The report will be released during this session and includes recommendations for an African advocacy campaign in the context of broader campaign to increase domestic funding for HIV programming.

Posters:

Tuesday, December 3

• Social and Attitudinal Factors Affecting Art Initiation among Young Men Diagnosed with HIV in Mpumalanga and Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
• Barriers to HIV Testing and Linkage among Young Men in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: A Market Segmentation Approach to Differentiated Service Delivery
• Factors Influencing Gender Integration in Planning, Implementing and Documenting HIV Prevention Research in Eastern and Southern Africa

Thursday, December 5

• Young Women’s Engagement in Student Leadership Structures – Lessons Learned in SAYWHAT
• Understanding HIV prevention from the perspective of adolescent girls and young women: A mixed methods study in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, South Africa
• Progress of African-led Advocacy for HIV Prevention Research
• A growing civil society advocacy movement hastens the pace of HIV prevention from development through to delivery

Friday, December 6

• Every Woman Matters: How the Voices of Women Influenced Discussions around Hormonal Contraceptives and Risk of HIV Acquisition
• Strengthening Collaborative Partnerships: Role and Impact of Research Partners in Creating a Conducive Policy Environment for Key Populations in Kenya
• Drivers of and Barriers to Interest in PrEP among Young Men in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

ICASA on Social Media:

Follow the conference in real-time on social media by following us on Twitter and Facebook—and using the official conference hashtag #ICASA2019.