Avac Event

Webinar: The multipurpose prevention role of condoms in the context of SRH/HIV linkages

The male and female latex condom is the single, most efficient, available technology to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and prevent unintended pregnancy. The search for new preventive and treatment technologies such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), HIV vaccines, microbicides and male hormonal contraceptives continue to make progress, but condoms will remain a key component of combination prevention strategies individuals can choose at different times in their lives to reduce their risks of sexual exposure to HIV and prevent unintended pregnancy.

The Department of Reproductive Health and Research (RHR) is pleased to convene this webinar exploring the multipurpose prevention role of condoms in the context of these SRH/HIV linkages.

Register here.

Avac Event

Webinar: Time to Protection for PrEP

There has been lots of discussion about the different PrEP guidelines with respect to how long it takes women to get protection with oral PrEP. This webinar tried to help us all understand the data that do exist. The call featured pharmacologists who’ve generated much of the data to briefly present their data and interpretations. This was followed by a Q&A period.

Download the audio and slides below. Or watch the webinar on YouTube.

Avac Event

Advancing Women’s Empowerment: How to Inspire Use of HIV Prevention Innovations Among Young Women?

On March 20, IPM, AVAC, Dalberg Design Impact Group and the USAID Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact held a side event during the 61st session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

The conversation brought together stakeholders working to advance women’s empowerment by building bridges between global health and economic empowerment initiatives. Participants discussed:

  • Human-centered design techniques being devised to support the development and introduction of new, female-initiated HIV prevention technologies, such as the dapivirine ring, to help empower young women and girls to make positive health decisions
  • Insights into the lives and journeys of adolescent girls and young women who are potential users of these new HIV prevention technologies
  • How human-centered research can merge public health and economic imperatives to design products that fit into women’s lives holistically, and that generate new and effective approaches to engage young women equitably, sustainably and at scale

When: Monday, March 20, 2017, 2:30-4pm
Where: Church Center of the United Nations

Avac Event

Hormonal contraception and HIV: Putting new developments in context

In this call, panelists discussed what the WHO grading system for family planning methods is, what impact a change in classification for DMPA and NET-EN has for women, programs and research, and what needs to happen next.

Listen to a recording of the call (mp3, YouTube).

AVAC has developed a plain language fact sheet on this topic and a full range of resources can be found here. This includes, “Now more than ever,” a statement from members of the Civil Society Advocacy Working Group on HC-HIV. This statement puts the developments with DMPA in the broader context of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights which are needed—now more than ever. There is even more urgency in this work in light of today’s reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule prohibiting abortion-related services or advocacy by foreign recipients of US family planning dollars. The updated resource page also includes statement from the ECHO trial (an ongoing study of how different contraceptive methods impact women’s risk of HIV).

We continued this conversation with Dr. James Kiarie, coordinator of the Human Reproduction Team at the World Health Organization. To listen, visit here.

Avac Event

Webinar: CDC and WHO Review Current PrEP Guidelines

Hundreds of people tuned in to hear researchers discuss the available data on “time to protection” required for effective oral PrEP with TDF/FTC—i.e., how many doses must be taken to build up protective levels of the drug in the blood? The answer is—it varies. Not surprisingly then, so do the guidelines for PrEP use.

As webinar participants learned, the data are varied and subject to interpretation. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend different time frames to reach protection in their respective guidelines for oral PrEP use. Both of these recommendations are based on measurements of the amount of drug that accumulates in blood and/or tissue over a specific period of time. The studies of how drugs are taken into the body and how they leave the body is called “pharmacokinetics” and “pharmacodynamics” or “PK” and “PD” for short, as explained in our primer for advocates. There isn’t a single PK measurement that is associated with PrEP protection—so both WHO and CDC guidelines are based on inference.

AVAC hosted a follow-on webinar presentation where representatives from both the CDC and WHO reviewed their respective guidance development processes and the role, use, contexts and audience for guidance documents.

Watch the recording on YouTube, listen to an mp3 version or download the slides. Q&A starts approximately 55 minutes in.

Avac Event

Webinar with WHO on Hormonal Contraception and HIV

In this webinar, we were joined by Dr. James Kiarie, coordinator of the Human Reproduction Team at the World Health Organization. Dr. Kiarie presented new guidance from WHO on hormonal contraceptive eligibility for women at high risk of HIV. He also fielded questions from webinar participants.

Recording

YouTube / Slides / Audio

This webinar builds on a March 10 webinar on this topic, which featured advocates and clinicians putting the guidance in context. A recording of that conversation is available here.

Avac Event

HIV Vaccine Awareness Day 2017 Webinar Series

This year marks the 20th anniversary of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD). As HIV prevention advocates, we find ourselves in new terrain when it comes to vaccine research—both in terms of scientific progress and the challenging political environment. We highlight these important issues in an HVAD webinar series leading up to and ending on May 18.

Recordings of the webinars available here:

  • Ad26 Mosaic Program—Janssen’s Maria Pau discusses preparations for the next efficacy trial
    April 28 – YouTube / Audio / Slides
  • The History—and Future—of the NIH’s Vaccine Research Center with Barney Graham
    May 4 – YouTube / Audio / Slides
  • Building on (and Building!) Success—status of HVTN 702 with Fatima Laher
    May 8 – YouTube / Audio / Slides
  • “Plan B”-NAb? An Overview of Antibody Research with Lynn Morris
    May 11 – YouTube / Audio / Slides
  • An Overview of Vaccine Development with Julie Ake of MHRP
    May 18 – YouTube / Audio / Slides

Avac Event

Webinar: Ad26 Mosaic Program—Janssen’s Maria Pau discusses preparations for the next efficacy trial

The HIV Vaccine Awareness Day 2017 webinar series kicked off with an overview of the Ad26/mosaic vaccine efficacy program from Janssen’s Maria Grazia Pau. This strategy is notable both for the science and for the active leadership from industry. Dr. Pau did a terrific job of explaining where the strategy fits into the broader vaccine field.

Recording Available: YouTube / Audio / Slides

This was one in a series of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day webinars. For details on all other calls, including recordings, visit here.

Avac Event

Webinar: The History—and Future—of the NIH’s Vaccine Research Center with Barney Graham

Long-time vaccine researcher Barney Graham presented an excellent overview of the history and work of NIH’s Vaccine Research Center (VRC)—established two decades ago on the inaugural HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD) in 1997. Download the recording for an accessible overview of the HIV vaccine field, the connections between the work on HIV and other vaccines at the VRC and tips on what advocates and researchers should be calling for this HVAD.

Recording Available: YouTube / Audio / Slides

This was one in a series of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day webinars. For details on all other calls, including recordings, visit here.

Avac Event

Webinar: Building on (and Building!) Success—Status of HVTN 702 with Fatima Laher

Dr. Fatima Laher, protocol co-chair of HVTN 702, provides an overview of the first HIV vaccine efficacy trial in seven years. Her presentation looks at the history, starting with partial success of RV144 in 2009, and talks about the role HVTN 702 as the field advances toward an effective vaccine.

Recording: YouTube / Audio / Slides

This was one in a series of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day webinars. For details on all other calls, including recordings, visit here.