If you are attending the International AIDS Society Conference (IAS), be sure to join AVAC and the Ministry of Health, Zambia for this vital conversation.
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Re-Imagining Prevention: Ensuring sustainable PrEP access in an evolving funding context
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Protecting Your Health
The Importance of STI and HIV Testing in the Modern Era
Join us for a conversation about STI and HIV testing in the modern era with dialogue from both health care providers and patient perspectives.
During this webinar attendees will learn about:
- The importance of regular STI/HIV testing
- The different testing options
- Advocating for testing and care in high impact communities
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Embracing Task Shifting and Innovation to Support Expanded Access to Long-Acting Injectable PrEP
While the HIV prevention buffet will soon offer a second form of long acting injectable PrEP, ensuring access to all those who can benefit requires innovations in service delivery such as task shifting. In the United States, two Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) have implemented programming that has expanded clinic capacity, resulting in more individuals being able to choose long acting injectable PrEP. We also heard about innovative efforts to expand PrEP access in South Africa and learned what it takes to integrate task shifting for long-acting PrEP injection programs. We discussed other ways we can collectively innovate to support expanded, sustainable access to all forms of PrEP.
Speakers:
- Kevin Aloysius, Legacy Community Health, Houston
- Megan Dieterich, Whitman-Walker Health, Washington, DC
- Juan Carlos Loubriel, Whitman-Walker Health, Washington, DC
- Carey Pike, Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, Cape Town
Moderator:
- Rupa Patel, Washington University in St. Louis
Materials:
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IAS 2025, the 13th IAS Conference on HIV Science
↪ Click for IAS 2025 resources and for our updates from the conference
The IAS 2025 conference in Kigali will go down as a critical turning point in the history of the HIV response. Every session, every meeting, every presentation played out against an existential threat: will the world find the courage and political will to end the HIV epidemic, with tremendous advances in technology underway, or will the momentum seen through 2024 collapse as evidence-based interventions fall way to ideology?
Leaders across the field are persevering to push forward the science, policies, programs and partnerships that are essential to achieve impact; and they are calling for solidarity. Advocates are leading the way, cutting a path and demanding equity, human rights and community leadership. WACI Health’s Rosemary Mburu captured this call to action at the opening session, saying “Community action is not the soft side of science — it’s what gives science its soul, its reach, and its relevance.”
New research on the HIV prevention pipeline is expected to be shared alongside evidence on how the dismantling of foreign aid and the retreat from US commitments to science and global health are impacting lives and livelihoods. Every aspect of the HIV response is under attack — from basic research and clinical development to policy, programs, and global access to life-saving treatment and prevention.
See AVAC’s new report, which lays out what’s needed at this critical time to get HIV prevention into the hands of those that need it most, and join us Monday, July 14 for a satellite session, Re-imagining prevention: Ensuring sustainable PrEP access in an evolving funding context.
IAS 2025 Resources
Use AVAC’s Roadmap to find sessions where prevention and the larger issues of global health equity and sustainability are in the spotlight. You can download it as a sortable spreadsheet or PDF.
AVAC Updates from the Conference
- Day 1 at IAS 2025: Funding cliffs, epidemic-ending possibilities, and essential advocacy
- Additional IAS highlights in Global Health Watch
- From Kigali: At IAS 2025, the HIV response rallies to face the crises
AVAC Conference Presentations
- Integration 2025: Where are we with sexual & reproductive health and HIV
- Re-imagining Prevention: Planning for sustainable PrEP access in the new funding context
- HIV Research on Pause: Impacts of US government cuts on HIV R&D, especially on HIV cure research
- No Retreat, No Surrender: Sustaining the HIV response in times of turmoil
- Designing for the Future: Community perspectives for HIV prevention trials
- Policy Shifts Needed to Enable PrEP Private Sector Delivery: Harnessing private sector strategies to expand access to PrEP
- How Have Policies Influenced PrEP Uptake: An analysis of PrEP data in 139 countries
Satellites, Sessions and Panels featuring AVAC and Partners
(All times listed are local in Kigali, Rwanda. See the time zone converter here.)
Sunday, July 13
- Expanding PrEP Access: The Role of HIVST in Uptake and Scale-Up – HIV Self-Testing impact on HIV diagnosis and treatment, Preconference, 09:00 – 17:45
- Building resilience: Strengthening national leadership, integration, and sustainable HIV programs in an era of funding transition – Sustaining HIV Prevention and Introducing / Scaling Long-Acting Prevention Tools: Navigating a Way Forward in the Current Environment, Preconference, 14:00 – 17:45
- Co-infections, viral and host diversity: Impact on HIV cure, Preconference, 9:00 – 17:45, featuring update from AVAC and partners on community perspectives and implications of US government funding issues
- Success stories and future directions in African HIV vaccine research – Clinical research successes and lessons learnt, Preconference, 9:00-12:45
Monday, July 14
- Re-imagining prevention: Planning for sustainable PrEP access in the new funding context, Satellite, 09:30 – 11:00, sponsored by AVAC and the Ministry of Health of Zambia
- Consolidating and advancing African leadership of HIV Cure strategies to accelerate cure research for Africa and the world, Satellite, 11:30 – 12:30
- The future of person-centred HIV prevention: Latest evidence from the African continent, Satellite, 11:30 – 12:30
- What’s new in WHO guidelines: Advancing prevention, testing, and treatment for impact and sustainability, Satellite, 13:00 – 14:30, including the launch of new LEN for PrEP guidelines
- Towards the finish line: Leveraging science to accelerate progress, sustain impact, and shape the future of HIV, Satellite, 15:00 – 16:30
- 2025: Time to bring HIV, sexual and reproductive health together for better care, Satellite, 15:00 – 16:30
Tuesday, July 15
- From PrEP to harm reduction: Scaling up comprehensive HIV prevention strategies, Oral abstract, 10:45 – 11:45
- How Long-Acting Drugs Can Help End the HIV Pandemic in Africa, Sponsor satellite, 12:15 – 13:15
- Confronting the storm: The future of the HIV response, Special session, 13:30 – 14:45
- No retreat, no surrender: Sustaining the HIV response in times of turmoil, Oral abstract, 15:00 – 16:00, featuring AVAC’s Richard Muko presenting about COMPASS’s comparative analysis of country policies and practices on domestic resource mobilization
- Health equity in challenging times: Threats and opportunities, Oral abstract, 16:30 – 17:30, moderated by AVAC’s Mitchell Warren
- Harnessing the private sector to deliver HIV prevention, Sponsor satellite, 18:00 – 19:30, featuring AVAC’s Catherine Verde Hashim presenting on policy shifts needed to deliver HIV prevention through the private sector
- The future of HIV prevention clinical trials, Satellite, 18:00 – 19:30, featuring AVAC’s Grace Kumwenda presenting on community perspectives in HIV prevention clinical research
Wednesday, July 16
- Implementation of long-acting PrEP in real world settings – the ImPrEP Project, Satellite, 12:15 – 13:15
- Co-Chair’s choice, Oral abstract, 15:00 – 16:00, featuring a presentation of the Phase 2 safety and pharmacokinetic study of MK-8527 as once-monthly oral PrEP
- Let’s get real: Implementing PrEP choice in practice, Symposium, 15:00 – 16:00
- Developing objective targets for monitoring PrEP program progress, Satellite, 18:00 – 19:30
Thursday, July 17
- Getting to grips with prevention, Plenary, 09:00 – 10:30, featuring updates on HIV vaccine discovery medicine and evidence-based innovations to simplify and de-medicalize PrEP choice
- Purposeful PrEP: New insights on lenacapavir for prevention, Oral abstract, 10:45 – 11:45
- Big money and the big picture: Funding and HIV epidemiology, Oral abstract, 12:15 – 13:15, featuring an AVAC presentation on how policies influenced PrEP uptake
- Pregnancy and long-acting ARVs for prevention and treatment, Symposium, 13:45 – 14:45, featuring AVAC partner Chilufya Kasanda of Ascend Futures Foundation in Zambia and updates from Merck, ViiV and Gilead on their respective PrEP programs
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2025 International Society for Vaccines Mini Symposium
The International AIDS Society (IAS) is partnering with the International Society for Vaccines (ISV) to host a virtual mini-symposium on HIV vaccine research and development (R&D). Be sure to take up this unique opportunity to engage with cutting-edge research and contribute to the ongoing dialogue around HIV vaccine development.
Event speakers
Part of ISV’s quarterly Mini Symposia series, this session brings together global leaders in HIV vaccine R&D to share the latest research, challenges and breakthroughs in the field.
Join us in a discussion with:
- Glenda Gray, Wits Infectious Disease and Oncology Research Institute (IDORI), South Africa
- Lindsey Baden, Mass General Brigham, USA
- Nyaradzo Mgodi, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
- Peter Gilbert, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, USA
- Shan Lu, UMass Chan Medical School and Worcester HIV Vaccine, USA
- William Schief, Moderna, USA
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The Scientific Journey of Lenacapavir: From basic science to clinical development to impact
On June 11, AVAC hosted a conversation, The Scientific Journey of Lenacapavir: From basic science to clinical development to impact, to explore how US support from NIH for basic science and South Africa’s clinical research infrastructure made possible the development of lenacapavir for PrEP (LEN), a discovery in HIV prevention that went on to be named Science magazine’s 2024 Breakthrough of the Year.
As the field anticipates initial regulatory approval from the US FDA by June 19 and a WHO recommendation in July, Linda-Gail Bekker of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, Wes Sundquist of the University of Utah and Mitchell Warren of AVAC underscored how this moment of promise is threatened by sweeping attacks on science, research and the very systems that made the development of LEN possible.
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Regional HIV Cure Advocates Virtual Cross Learning Convening
Join HIV cure advocates and the Afrovive Health Foundation executive director to discuss the latest on HIV cure research.
Featuring:
- Doreen Moracha — HIV Cure Advocate – Kenya
- Elina Mwasinga — HIV Cure Advocate – Malawi
- Yusuf Hasan Wada — HIV Cure Advocate – Nigeria
- Dr. Ben Kibirige — Executive Director Afrovive Health Foundation
Meeting Details:
12pm EAT. Join via Microsoft Teams.
- Meeting ID: 936 635 474 914 3
- Passcode: 5Vw7Yq
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On the Road to IAS 2025: Scientific Highlights in HIV Cure Research
The Towards an HIV Cure programme of IAS – the International AIDS Society – invites you to a webinar, titled “On the road to IAS 2025: Scientific highlights in HIV cure research”.
This webinar will set the scene for the pre-conference, “Co-infections, viral and host diversity: Impact on HIV cure strategies”, taking place on 13 July at IAS 2025, the 13th IAS Conference on HIV Science. It will highlight key scientific developments presented at CROI 2025 and the Keystone Symposia, “HIV Cure: Antiretroviral-Free Control of HIV Infection”, and explore how these findings are shaping the HIV cure field and informing the conversation leading up to IAS 2025.
Confirmed Speakers
- Gabriela Cromhout, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- Mike McCune, Gates Foundation, United States (pre-recorded)
- Natalia Laufer, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y SIDA, Argentina
- Sharon Lewin, Doherty Institute, Australia (pre-recorded)
- Steve Deeks, University of California San Francisco, United States
- Thumbi Ndung’u, Africa Health Research Institute, South Africa
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Fight for our Lives Emergency Townhall
Join AVAC and GBGMC for the next “Fight For Our Lives” Emergency Town Hall to learn more about how the recent freeze on US government foreign assistance has impacted the availability of PrEP, including the rollout of injectable cabotegravir for PrEP, and what this means for key populations and LGBTQ+ communities.
This is an ongoing series. Forthcoming times shown are Eastern Time. Find the time in your region here.
- August 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM
- August 21, 2025 at 10:00 AM
- August 26, 2025 at 10:00 AM
- August 28, 2025 at 10:00 AM
- September 2, 2025 at 10:00 AM
- September 4, 2025 at 10:00 AM
- September 9, 2025 at 10:00 AM
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Fight for Firewalls: HIV and Health Data Privacy in the Snowballing Surveillance State
With the increased abuse of technology in surveilling and criminalizing healthcare, especially abortion and gender affirming care, more and more people are asking: is my personal health data safe?
People living with HIV and human rights advocates have been demanding answers to this question for years, particularly in relation to the collection, sharing, and storing of HIV genetic data without the consent of people living with HIV.
Kendra Albert, a public interest technology lawyer, discussed the current state of health data privacy, especially as it relates to people living with HIV. Participants learned basic concepts in health data privacy and what actions they can take to improve health data privacy on the state level.
Moderator:
- Martha Cameron, International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW), North America
Presenters:
- Kendra Albert, Albert Sellars LLP
- Kae Greenberg, Center for HIV Law and Policy
Materials: