The field of cure research is evolving and expanding, with various proposed trials that require informed engagement from many stakeholders. Plenary speaker, Jintanat Ananworanich, provides an update, discusses research, and answers questions.
Avac Event
State of the Art HIV Cure: Where are we now and where are we going?
Avac Event
UNAIDS, Targets and Civil Society
In Melbourne, UNAIDS launched a new initiative known as “90-90-90”, which lays out new targets for testing, treatment and virologic suppression. Where did these targets come from, what do they mean—and where does prevention fit in? Chris Collins, Chief of the Community Mobilization Division at UNAIDS addressed these questions and more.
Avac Event
Latest developments in VMMC research and implementation
AIDS 2014 brought more updates on voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) including new data on risk behaviors in circumcised men, the impact of cash transfers as part of VMMC programming and more. Kenyan researcher and implementer Kawango Agot reviewed the latest findings.
Avac Event
Results of the iPrEx open-label extension (iPrEx OLE): PrEP uptake, sexual practices and HIV incidence
Get details on the iPrEx OLE study from principal investigator Robert Grant, who presented the data at AIDS 2014. The first open-label PrEP study to publish results, these data from iPrEx OLE begin to answer a number of questions on PrEP use in the “real world”.
Avac Event
Data and Uncertainty: Understanding updates on hormonal contraceptives and HIV
AIDS 2014 featured analyses of data on the potential relationship between hormonal contraceptives and risk of HIV infection. Researchers Charles Morrison (FHI 360) and Kristin Wall (Emory University), and Mary Lyn Gaffield from the WHO discussed the newest findings and guidance.
Avac Event
PrEP me, please: Understand PrEP’s role in women’s health & safer conception
Presenters:
- Shannon Weber, MSW, Director, Perinatal HIV Hotline, Bay Area Perinatal AIDS Center
- Erika Arron, MSN, CRNP Assistant Professor, Drexel University College of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine
- Caroline Watson, volunteer outreach for BAPAC and PRO Men
- Dazon Dixon Diallo, MPH, Founder and President, SisterLove, Inc. (Moderator)
Avac Event
PrEP Rally 4: What does PrEP mean for women?
A New-York based panel discussion featured doctors, PrEP users, activists, focusing on what PrEP means for women.
Guest Panelists:
Lynette Ford, MSW, GMHC
Jasmine, Woman currently using PrEP
Julie Lynn, Woman currently using PrEP
Poppy, Woman who was on PrEP when trying to get pregnant
Kimberleigh J. Smith, Harlem United Community AIDS Center
Shobha Swaminathan, MD, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine Rutgers, The State University Of New
Jersey New Jersey Medical School
Guest Moderator:
Terri L. Wilder, MSW, Mt. Sinai Institute for Advanced Medicine & ACT UP/NY Women’s Caucus
The discussion is free and all are welcome. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information, email [email protected] or call (212) 367-1016. And spread the word! Flyer available for download below.
Avac Event
Global HIV Vaccine Awareness Day Events
On May 18 every year, HIV prevention advocates around the world raise their voices about the urgent need to continue the search for a safe and effective AIDS vaccine, and especially to recognize the enormous contribution of the thousands of volunteers who have participated in vaccine trials, without which this research would not be possible.
Here is a partial list of events that happened all around the world.
Where: Bangkok, Thailand
What: Lunchtime Briefing at Mahidol University
Details: “What’s new in HIV Vaccine?” with presentations by Dr Nakorn Premsri, Dr Supachai Rerks-ngarm, Dr Soachai Nitayaphan and Dr Robert O-Connell, moderated by Professor Punnee Pitisuttithum and introduced by Dean Professor Yaowalak Sukthana.
If you want to attend: 11.30am-1.00pm, Mahidol University, School of Tropical Medicine, 5th Floor, Chalermprakiat 50 years building
Where: New York City
What: Vaccine-o-licious: Free night of entertainment and education
Details: Vaccine-o-licious is an annual event designed to spread the word about HIV Vaccine Awareness Day. The event brings together a variety of performers uniting through dance and song. Peppermint, the NYC Queen of Vaccine, will host this exciting evening of entertainment, with a little education too!
If you want to attend: 6.30-10.30pm, Santos Party House, 96 Lafayette St. Click here to reserve your free tickets.
Where: Uganda
What: National print and radio features
Details:
- Q&A supplements will run this weekend (May 16-17) in the New Vision and the Daily Monitor.
- English radio talk show on Radio One FM 90
- Luganda radio talk show on CBS Radio Buganda
Where: Kenya and Uganda
What: Media, civil society and community events
Details:
Kenya
- May 14 – Media Breakfast Roundtable
- May 15 – A Civil Society Leaders’ forum on advances in HIV Vaccine R&D
- May 18 – A Community Event with fanfare and speeches in one research community in Kenya
Uganda
- May 14 – Community medical outreach with Family Planning (FP), HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT) and general treatment
- May 15 – Community Event, including community service (cleaning), sporting activities and speeches
Where: South Africa – clinical trial site communities of Nyanga and Masiphumelele
What: Community events
Details: From 18-22 May a series of events at and around research clinical trial sites will bring community stakeholders together to 1) commemorate people who have passed due to HIV related illnesses, and 2) present updates on HIV prevention research. The events will feature:
- The progress with regards to HIV vaccines
- The promise of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has as a prevention tool
- Results of clinical studies that have both excited and disappointed the field:
- FACTS – showed that experimental vaginal gel was not effective in preventing HIV among young women, and that
- ADAPT – showed that when South African women take PrEP daily, they will be much less likely to acquire HIV from HIV-positive sex partners
Communities will be challenged to support through participation or encourage families, neighbors and all people in society to seek to understand and rally behind clinical research.
Avac Event
Global HIV Vaccine Awareness Day Events
AVAC is excited to be working with civil society and research partners across the globe on a number of community events to commemorate HIV Vaccine Awareness Day.
We encourage your participation if you live near any one of them! If you would like more information about an an event or if you have your own that you would like us to include on our list, please contact us at [email protected].
Also a statement from the Vaccine Interest Group in Uganda was published in The New Vision and The Daily Monitor newspapers. Take a look.
See HIV Vaccine Awareness Day events below:
New Prevention Interventions and Relevance to the MSM Community in Beijing, China
Date and Location: May 18, Beijing, China
Event Organizer: Cai Lingping, China HIV/AIDS Information Network (CHAIN)
HIV Prevention Activists on Vaccines
Date and Location: Date TBD, Nairobi, Kenya
Event Organizer: Lucy Ghati, National Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya (NEPHAK)
Creating Awareness on HIV Vaccines Among Sex Workers
Date and Location: May 18, Nairobi, Kenya
Event Organizer: Grace Kamau, Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Program (BHESP)
HIV Vaccines for HIV Prevention: The Past, Present and Future
Date and Location: May 17, Kisumu, Kenya
Event Organizer: Simon Odiwuor
Medical Camp Highlighting the Need for Vaccines
Date and Location: June 1, Kisumu, Kenya
Event Organizer: Dr Stella Njuguna, KEMRI-RCTP
Community HIV Vaccine Research Literacy in Jos, Nigeria
Date and Location: Date TBD, Jos, Nigeria
Event Organizer: Morenike Ukpong, The New HIV Vaccine and Microbicide Advocacy Society (NHVMAS)
HIV Prevention Roundtable
Date and Location: May 23, Lagos, Nigeria
Event Organizer: Francis Umoh, Positive Action for Treatment Access (PATA)
Civil Society Symposium on Vaccine Research
Date and Location: May 17, Cape Town, South Africa
Event Organizer: Ntando Yola, Networking HIV/AIDS Community of South Africa (NACOSA)
One-Day Workshop Raising Awareness on the Importance of Vaccines, Particularly HIV Vaccines for Adults
Date and Location: May 23, Durban, South Africa
Event Organizer: Gethwana Mahlase, Zimnandi Zonke
One-Day HIV Vaccine Awareness Day Session
Date and Location: May 17, Durban, South Africa
Event Organizer: Tabita Mahlangeni, Medical Research Council/HIV Prevention Research Unit
A Series of HIV Vaccine Community Events
Date and Location: May 17, Johannesburg, South Africa
Event Organizer: Nomampondo Barnabas, Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU)
Researcher and Community Roundtable
Date and Location: May 18, Bangkok, Thailand
Event Organizer: Udom Likhitwonnawut, Thai NGO Coalition on AIDS (TNCA)
Stakeholder Roundtable Discussion on AIDS Vaccine Research in Uganda
Date and Location: May 17, Kampala, Uganda
Event Organizer: Richard Hasunira, Uganda Civil Society Coalition
A Series of Radio Segments and Community Dialogue on HIV Vaccines
Date and Location: May 16 & 18, Kampala, Uganda
Event Organizer: Moses Supercharger Nsubuga, Stigmaless Band
Real Talk: What’s This I Hear About an HIV Vaccine?
Date and Location: May 17, Los Angeles, US
Event Organizer: Kieta D. Mutepfa, UCLA CARE Center
Vaccine-o-licious
Date and Location: May 5, New York City, US
Event Organizer: DaShawn Usher, Project ACHIEVE
Biomedical Interventions for an AIDS-Free Generation – Community Forum on Local PrEP and Vaccine Research
Date and Location: May 15, Oakland, US
Event Organizer: Rob Newells, Imani Community Church
A Series of Community Events on HIV Vaccine Awareness
Date and Location: May 18, Lusaka, Zambia
Event Organizer: Clever Chilende, Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign (TALC)
Media and Advocate’s Training on HIV Vaccines
Date and Location: May 16, Harare, Zimbabwe
Event Organizer: Munyaradzi Chimwara, KAIROS Zimbabwe
Sensitizing Community on the Value of HIV Vaccine Research
Date and Location: May 21, Harare, Zimbabwe
Event Organizer: Tendayi Westerhof, Womens Health, HIV and AIDS Southern Africa
Live Radio Talk Shows Focusing on Vaccines (Radio Simba, Top Radio and Radio One)
Date and Location: Staring May 14 through Week of May 20), Kampala, Uganda
Event Organizer: Dr Hannah Kibuuka and Lillian Mutengu, Makerere University Walter Reed Program
A Series of Events for Civil Society and the Media (including a Media Dialogue on HIV Vaccines)
Date and Location: May 16 & May 17, Kampala, Uganda
Event Organizer: Monica Millard and Lillian Mutengu, Makerere University Walter Reed Program
Live TV Talk Shows Focusing on Vaccines (NTV and Channel44 Television)
Date and Location: Week of May 20, Kampala, Uganda
Event Organizer: Monica Millard and Lillian Mutengu, Makerere University Walter Reed Program
Avac Event
PrEP: News from studies in Europe and elsewhere
The fourth webinar in our series addressed a range of topics in HIV prevention research, hosted jointly by NAM and AVAC, and looked at the current situation regarding pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in Europe and the US. Presenters discussed the ongoing IPERGAY study in France and the PROUD study in England, and reviewed progress in the NEXT-PrEP and demonstration studies in the US.
It also discussed the implications of the negative results of the recent VOICE trial. The presentations were followed by a question and answer session with our expert speakers.