US leadership in global health innovation has played a critical role in achieving landmark progress in global health over the past fifteen years. As the global community embarks on the next era of development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) challenge us to reach for zero and eliminate poverty, infectious disease outbreaks, and preventable maternal and child deaths.

The end of HIV/AIDs, malaria, tuberculosis, neglected tropical diseases and preventable deaths during childbirth are only within reach if we continue to invest in the research and development for new vaccines, drugs and devices that move us beyond current health interventions.

The Global Health Technologies Coalition had an interactive panel discussion on how global health innovation is key to tackling the world’s most pressing health issues and meeting the challenge of the Sustainable Development Goals. The panel highlighted the importance of partnerships, especially the role of the private sector, nonprofits and US Government in global health innovation.

A panel discussion with:

• Kaitlin Christenson, PATH
• Gary Cohen, Becton, Dickinson and Company
• Dean Jamison, Lancet Commission on Investing in Health
• Tony Pipa, US Department of State
• Moderated by Lisa Cohen, Washington Global Health Alliance

In Collaboration with:

• Senator Roger Wicker and Senator Chris Coons, co-chairs of the Senate Caucus on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases
• Congressman Ander Crenshaw and Congressman Gregory Meeks, co-chairs of the Congressional Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases Caucus

The Centers for Disease Control reports nearly one in four people living with HIV in the United States is female. Federal funding has been allocated to increase awareness and inclusion of women in clinical trials, yet female participants are often underrepresented in HIV research.

Transgender women also encounter a high prevalence of HIV infection, but have not sufficiently been included in clinical trials. The National HIV AIDS Strategy states that although progress has been made in recent years the Federal government “must remain vigilant in increasing knowledge and appropriate support and interventions” for transgender communities.

The webinar featured:

• Annet Davis, RN, MSW, CCRC, Project Director, at University of Pennsylvania’s HIV Prevention Research Division. She will speak to her success in engaging women with transgender experiences for HVTN 505, a Phase 2b HIV vaccine trial.
• Rondalya DeShields, RN, MSN, Program Manager for the Infectious Disease Practice at Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School. She will speak on recruiting high risk women for HPTN 069, also known as NEXT-PrEP, a Phase 2 trial of maraviroc as PrEP.

These studies demonstrate some of the unique considerations that are necessary for successfully engaging cisgender and transgender women in HIV research.

The Women’s HIV Research Collaborative (WHRC), a working group of the Legacy Project, provides culturally appropriate leadership in development, implementation and dissemination of information about HIV research addressing the needs of women and girls in the United States. The WHRC works to raise the visibility of issues related to HIV in women in the US and promotes awareness of scientific research to women in disproportionately impacted communities.

The Network for Multidisciplinary Studies on ARV-Based HIV Prevention (NEMUS) webinar was presented by Dr. Eliana Miura Zucchi on:

The Combine! Study: Protocol for a Pragmatic Clinical Trial on PEP, PrEP and Combination HIV Prevention Methods in Public Clinics in Brazil

Dr. Eliana Miura Zucchi is a psychologist with masters (2008) and doctoral (2014) degrees in public health from the University of Sao Paulo. Currently she teaches at the Graduate Program in Collective Health at the Catholic University of Santos, and is a member of NEPAIDS – the Center for HIV Prevention Studies at the University of Sao Paulo. She is part of the Research Team of the Combine! Study.

This webinar featured Wafaa El-Sadr, principal investigator of HPTN 065, which evaluated the use of cash incentives in improving outcomes for people living with HIV in the United States.

These were useful talks from CROI and excerpts from AVAC Report 2014/15 as preparation for our webinar:

• CROI Webcast: Effect of Financial Incentives on Linkage to Care and Viral Suppression: HPTN 065
• CROI Webcast: Social Protection, Financial Incentives and Prevention of HIV
• Excerpts from AVAC Report on target setting and targets that worked

Conference Blog Series

Several members of the AVAC team attended the meeting of the International AIDS Society in Vancouver which just completed. Along the way we presented our “take” on key conference events.

We invite you to learn more about:

• Injectable Options and Preventable Confusion: AVAC convened a satellite session which featured presentations on trials of long-acting injectable PrEP agents, gave an update on HIV vaccine research and reviewed the state of passive antibody infusions for prevention.
• How Would Bob Say It?: We remember Bob Munk, an AIDS activist, educator and mentor who passed away just before the conference began
• Traversing the AIDS Vaccine Terrain in Vancouver: An update from IAS
• Follow the Money: Based on Vancouver data, what are the questions prevention advocates should be asking about cash transfers now?
• High-Altitude PrEP: A birds-eye view of what all the talk actually means—and what we’re starting to learn about people and pills
• #bearsrepeating: Social media is alight with phrases and findings from Vancouver. What’s bubbling to the top—and why is it so familiar?
• Data on ART and PrEP: Where science provides solutions…and where questions remain
• Living Below Detection: Another case of HIV remission
• VMMC at IAS 2015: Cause for celebration and concern

Also, the Executive Director of AVAC, Mitchell Warren, spoke for this video about the HIV prevention research presented at IAS 2015.

Conference Interviews

Watch Access HIV’s one-on-one interviews with key researchers and advocates from IAS 2015 here.

Tweets about IAS 2015

#IAS2015 Tweets

This year the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016), 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, is being held in Durban, South Africa.

Dispatches from Durban

AVAC posted live updates from Durban on Twitter and Facebook. We also offer more in-depth daily updates. See below, or join our Advocates’ Network and receive timely email updates from the field.

Daily Updates

• Reflections from Durban: Day 6 at 2016
• Respect the Data, Respect the People: Day 5 at AIDS 2016
• I Bleed, I Rise: Day 4 at AIDS 2016
• The Vagina Dialogues – Day 3 at AIDS 2016
• Long Waits and Long Queues: Hurry Up! – Day 2 at AIDS 2016
• Magical Thinking and Surge Pricing: AIDS 2016 update—Day 1
• Join AVAC at these AIDS 2016 Prevention Sessions
• Be Heard: A preview of prevention activism in Durban
• Preparing for Durban

AVAC Staffer Micheal Ighodaro’s Plenary Speech

“The people who talk about leaving no one behind ask people like me to be polite, to stay calm, to grieve quietly, while my brothers and sisters are dying or imprisoned. Our bodies are seen as an abomination or deserving of HIV—and you still want to know the source of my rage. I cannot decorate this pain for you, I cannot make a beautiful homage, and I cannot invoke hope and prayers. I cannot smile. I need to see action now, today…”

Micheal Ighodaro, Plenary Speech, July 20, International AIDS Conference 2016. Watch.

Prevention at AIDS2016

Research Literacy Networking Zone

AVAC, in partnership with IRMA, NHVMAS, TAG, WACI Health and WRHI, is excited to host the first-ever Research Literacy Networking Zone (Booth 606 in the Global Village) at AIDS 2016. The RLNZ brings together conference delegates and local community members to network and discuss ongoing and planned HIV prevention, cure research and the rollout of new interventions. Click here for all the details!

AIDS 2016 Roadmap

AVAC prepared a full roadmap highlighting sessions throughout the conference—available as a PDF and an Excel spreadsheet, sortable by prevention option and more.

#AIDS2016

Check out the conference on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The Programme-at-a-Glance identifies sessions focused on specific issues such as cure, vaccines, key populations and more.

Go to FHI 360, at Crowd 360, for the official source of live coverage of AIDS 2016 on social media. News reports and scientific analysis are available from NAM and Clinical Care Options.

AVAC @ AIDS 2016

For a full accounting of what AVAC is up to in Durban (pre-conference activities, satellite sessions, abstracts, workshops, etc.), download this PDF.

Satellite Sessions

Monday, July 18

• Vaccines are Needed to Conclusively End HIV/AIDS and TB, 8:00-10:00, Session Room 8
• Lived Realities, Imagined Futures: Meeting the HIV prevention needs of African gay men, 10:15-12:15, Session Room 5
• Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) as Primary HIV Prevention: Maximizing our investment and considerations for sustainability, 10:15-12:15, Session Room 11
• What Will it Take to Reach the Fast Track Prevention Targets: What, who and how, 14:45-16:45, Session Room 5
• HIV Prevention for Pregnant & Breastfeeding Women: Long overdue. But is it time to deliver? 14:45-16:45, Session Room 12