Avac Event

South African AIDS Conference

SA AIDS is a biannual meeting, serving as the primary opportunity to discuss progress and success—as well as challenges—in addressing the country’s epidemic. This year’s conference theme was Building on Successes: Integrating Systems. The conference hoped to provide a critical venue to discuss the status of biomedical research, as well as the progress of moving key interventions such as treatment as prevention and voluntary medical male circumcision to wider scale implementation.

AVAC and many of its partners participated at the conference. There are several ways you can link in to HIV prevention research and roll-out related events—both in-person and from afar:

SA AIDS 2013 HIV PREVENTION RESEARCH ROADMAP

There were a wide range of great sessions planned for SA AIDS 2013 (full program available here), and we pulled together a roadmap of select sessions that may have been of interest to those tracking biomedical prevention research and roll-out:

Tuesday, June 18

  • Film Screening: How to Survive a Plague – 18.00-20.30, Hall 4. Panel discussion and Q&A to follow. Panelists: Mia Malan, Mediator, Editor, Health Mail and Guardian; Francois Venter, HIV Physician and Advocate; Glenda Gray, Leading SA HIV Researcher; Larry Corey, HVTN; Ms. Nthlotheng Mabena, CHAPS

Wednesday, June 19

  • Satellite: Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC): Updates and best practices – hosted by PEPFAR, 11.30-13.00, Hall 5
  • Symposium: The use of contraception in the context of the HIV epidemic – convened by Prof. Helen Rees, WrHI, 11.30-13.00, Hall 8
  • Symposium: The immunisation programme and use of vaccines in the HIV epidemic context – convened by Prof. Helen Rees, WrHI, 14.00-15.30, Hall 2
  • Satellite: South Africa national perspectives on delivering comprehensive combination HIV prevention – hosted by Futures Group, 14.00-15.30, Hall 6
  • Symposium: Linking HIV prevention research in South Africa to the realities of women’s lives – co-hosts WrHI & AVAC, 18.00-20.00, Hall 8
  • Satellite: Strategic use of antiretrovirals (ARVs) for HIV prevention and treatment – hosted by WHO, 16.00-17.30, Hall 8
  • Basic Science Session: HIV: The Mutating Target – 16.00-17.30, Hall 6; including presentation “HVTN503/Phambili Phase 2b Vaccine Trial”

Thursday, June 20

  • Basic Science Session: Neutralising antibodies: Homing in on the target – 11.30-13.00, Hall 6
  • Symposium: What non-biomedical interventions must be prioritised in combination prevention? – 11.30-13.00, Hall 8
  • Symposium: HIV vaccine and cure: What are the next big questions? – 14.00-15.30, Hall 3
  • Community Exchange Encounters Session: Role of social media in HIV and AIDS response – 16.00-17.30, Hall 2; including presentation “New media for stakeholder outreach and community engagement in HIV prevention research”
  • Epidemiology/Prevention Session: Biomedical prevention: PMTCT and MMC – 16.00-17.30, Hall 3

Friday, June 21

  • Plenary 4, including talks “Zero Vertical Transmissions” by Prof. James McIntyre and “Zero New Infections: A Myth or Reality” by Dr. Gita Ramjee – 9.00-11.00, Hall 1

Avac Event

European Research Towards a Cure for HIV

The fifth webinar in a series addressing a range of topics in HIV prevention research, hosted jointly by NAM and AVAC. This installment looked at recent developments and future directions in the area of cure research. To view the full Flash animation of the webinar, click here.

Avac Event

Non-Surgical Devices for VMMC

This AVAC global advocates’ webinar was on the topic of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) devices and the recent news that the World Health Organization had prequalified the PrePex device. The goal of the webinar was to help advocates understand the prequalification process, recent events and discuss next steps for rollout. There was a brief presentation followed by a moderated discussion.

Avac Event

Women Deliver: Third Global Conference

Over 7,000 participants from around the world, including government leaders, policy makers, healthcare professionals, NGO representatives, corporate leaders and global media outlets met in Kuala Lumpur for Women Deliver 2013 (WD2013) . Billed as the largest global event of the decade to focus on the health and empowerment of girls and women, Women Deliver 2013 was a global platform for ensuring that the health and rights of girls and women remain top priorities now, and for decades to come.

AVAC and many of its partners participating in and presented at the conference. A number of sessions are still available for viewing and some tools and resources remain relevant:

Women Deliver 2013 Roadmap: There was a wide range of great sessions planned for WD2013 (full program available here ), and we pulled together a roadmap of select sessions focused on HIV-related issues — see below.

Watch the Conference: Much of Women Deliver 2013 was webcast. Click here to see available sessions to view.

Partner Tools: A number of our partners have also created roadmaps for the conference: CHANGE , PATH, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, CAMI and the International Partnership for Microbicides.

Graphics: Women Deliver logos and graphics are available as well.

Women Deliver 2013 Roadmap: Below please see a roadmap of selected sessions that highlight HIV-related issues and linkages.

Monday, May 27

  • Side-event: Global Forum on Cervical Cancer Prevention, (9:00-17:00), click here for more information
  • Side-event: HIV Treatment Optimization and Women’s Rights and Empowerment: Making the Connection, (14:00-17:00) Rooms 307, 308, 309

Tuesday, May 28

  • Side-event: Getting to FP2020: Evidence Gaps and Research Priorities, (7:00–8:30)
  • More Than Mothers: Upholding the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women in the Global Plan, (11:30 – 13:00) Grand Ballroom 2
  • Health and Community Systems Strengthening: An Integrated Response to Improve the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Women Living with and Affected by HIV, (11:30 – 13:00) Conference Hall 1
  • Maximising Access to Treatment for Women and Girls: What Will It Take?, (14:45 – 16:15) Room 310
  • Female Condoms Are _______ Film Festival, (18:30-20:30) Exhibit Hall 2, Hospitality Suite 2

Wednesday, May 29

  • Sexual Health, Rights, and Staying Safe: Are Women at Higher Risk of HIV Getting the Best from Their Health Services?, (11:00 – 13:00) Room 310
  • Plenary Lunch: The Challenges and Benefits of Partnership, (1315 – 1430) Grand Ballroom 2
  • Claiming Our Rights to Sexual and Reproductive Health: How Political Commitments to End AIDS Can Drive Improvements in Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health, (14:45 – 16:15) Room 307

Thursday, May 30

  • Multi-purpose Prevention Technologies for Girls and Women, (11:00 – 13:00) Room 402
  • Plenary Lunch: Twenty Years Ago… What’s Missing in the 1990’s Programmes of Action: Moving Forward from the MDGs, (13:15-14:45) Grand Ballroom 2
  • Sexuality and Fertility—Choices and Challenges for Women Living with or at Risk for HIV, (15:00 – 16:00) Room 401

Avac Event

How to Communicate about Sexual Health and STIs: Sex positivity vs. risk-based language

Thursday, April 20 at 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM ET

Join The Choice Agenda for a conversation focused on sex positivity and risk-based language when discussing sexual health and STIs.

Speakers include Dr. Keosha T. Bond, CUNY School of Medicine, Dr. Joseph Cherabie, Washington University St. Louis, Mark Kaigwa, Nendo, and moderated Alison Footman, AVAC

Webinar co-sponsored by the American Sexual Health Association.

Click here to convert the time to your location.

Register here.

This webinar is a part of The Choice Agenda.

Avac Event

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 moderated by Samantha Rick, AVAC

Register here.

Avac Event

PrEP That Booty: The latest on rectal microbicide research for the back door

Thursday, June 29 at 9:00 AM–10:30AM ET

Most of what we hear about regarding the HIV prevention pipeline is about long-acting, longer-acting, and even longer-acting products that deliver drug throughout the body and require a trained clinician to deliver. However, these attributes are not desirable to many folks, and communities want a range of choices. Researchers and advocates for years have been working on HIV prevention products specifically for the back door (rectum) to provide protection during anal intercourse. These products are user-controlled, non-systemic (the drug stays in the booty and only the booty), and are short-acting, so you don’t have to commit to having a prevention drug in your body for a year or longer. Join us for a dynamic discussion regarding the latest research on Booty PrEP – aka rectal microbicides – with our multi-talented panel.

Speakers include: Jonathan Baker, PA, Laser Surgery Care, Dr. Craig Hendrix, Johns Hopkins, Juan Michael Porter II, The Body, and Dr. Sharon Riddler, University of Pittsburgh

Register here.

Avac Event

PrEP (In)equity: Documenting, measuring, and flipping the script towards justice

Tuesday, May 9 at 9:00 AM–10:30AM ET

Disparities in PrEP awareness, access, and uptake are stark in the United States, and play out along lines of race, gender, age, and geography. While we see increases in PrEP uptake overall, these metrics tend to mask the fact that the people who most need PrEP are not to be found in those numbers. As we see new modes of PrEP delivery become available, we are concerned these “shiny new things” will be yet another way to measure disparities and not actually help those who most need it. We must focus on these inequities with laser-like intensity, allocate resources using an equity model, and strive harder for PrEP justice.

Speakers include: Leisha-McKinley Beach, National HIV/AIDS Consultant, Michael Chancley, PrEP4All, and Dr. Patrick Sullivan, Emory

Register here.

Avac Event

SA AIDS Conference

The 11th SAAIDS Conference 2023, under the Theme: Act, Connect and End the Epidemic will be at the Durban ICC on the 20th -23rd June, 2023. Now, more than ever before, we need to ACT to end an epidemic that has been a part of our lives for decades. We hope to do this by bringing the HIV community together under the same roof, post the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, to deliberate on next steps towards an AIDS free generation in 2030. In this conference, we wish for people living with HIV, global and local policy makers, public and private sector officials, research scientists, donors, academics, clinicians, and civil society to continue the conversations, to jointly share new evidence and innovations that will help us end the HIV epidemic once and for all.

More information including registration here.

Avac Event

PrEP In Black America: New Orleans

PrEP is a tool to effectively prevent HIV, but despite FDA approval in 2012, only 9 percent of Black people who could benefit from PrEP have received it. To address dismal PrEP utilization rates in the Black community, Black HIV prevention advocates convened in Atlanta, GA for the first PrEP In Black America Summit. With community input from the summit, we published “For Us, By Us: PrEP In Black America: A Master Plan For HIV Prevention In Black America” which outlined key recommendations for stakeholders to implement to increase racial equity in PrEP uptake.

Join Black HIV prevention advocates from across the U.S. for the second interactive PrEP In Black America Summit in New Orleans, LA on May 19, as we develop and build on existing strategies to increase PrEP access and awareness in the Black community.

Thanks to sponsorship from Red Hot Organization, registration for the summit is FREE, including a lunch. Due to a limit of 200 attendees, please register once you have confirmed that you will be able to attend in person on May 19, 2023. We will also have a live, interactive virtual option to attend. For more information, visit prep4all.org/prepinblackamerica.

More information including registration here.