Resource Tracking

Since 2004, AVAC has been a member of the Resource Tracking for HIV Prevention Research and Development Working Group (formerly the HIV Vaccines and Microbicides Resource Tracking Working Group) which annually collects information on the amount invested in research and development for HIV prevention. In 2013, the working group began a collaboration with the International AIDS Society (IAS) to produce a report tracking investment in cure research and development.

Tracking Trends Over Time

A lack of consistent data on funding made it hard to monitor the direction and priorities of research and development (R&D) in HIV prevention and cure. How money was spent from year to year, what technology was being given priority and how funders were changing was unknown. AVAC’s work alongside partners have changed that – making it easy to track global spending and keep an eye on developments in HIV prevention and cure, and giving advocates an evidence base from which their advocacy can build. The latest data are available at hivresourcetracking.org or as a PDF download.

About the Project

The annual HIV Prevention Research & Development Investments report tracks what technology is being prioritized and areas that need more investment. In 2014, the Working Group expanded its focus to analyze grants going towards HIV cure research. All of this can be used to fight for fact-based policy changes—especially those impacting R&D funding.

How the Prevention Data is Collected

Investment figures for HIV prevention R&D are collected annually via an email survey. The most recent report looked at 215 funders across public, philanthropic and commercial sectors. The two types of resources tracked are investment — annual payments by funders — and expenditures, which are resources directly spent on R&D during a particular year.

Funding is broken up into two categories, investment and expenditure because:

1. some funders may provide funding for multiple years in advance;
2. there may be delays in research projects; and/or
3. organizations may use the funds over a period extending beyond the year they received the money.

What are the Focus Areas for Data Collection?

• Preventive HIV vaccines
• Microbicides
• Multipurpose prevention technologies
• Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)
• Treatment as prevention (TasP)
• Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC)
• Condoms
• Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT)
• HIV cure
• Therapeutic AIDS vaccines

Want to Read Previous Reports?

Visit the archive on the HIV Resource Tracking website.

Cure Research and Development Investments are available: 2021, 2020 and more in our resource database.

Partners

The Resource Tracking for HIV Prevention R&D Working Group is a collaboration between AVAC, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

The Global Investment in HIV Cure Research and Development is a collaboration between AVAC, the HIV Vaccines and Microbicides Resource Tracking Working Group, the International AIDS Society’s (IAS) Towards an HIV Cure initiative and the Treatment Action Group (TAG).

Financial support for the most recent project was provided by AVAC. In past years, funding was also provided by the IAVI, UNAIDS, the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) and the Alliance for Microbicide Development (AMD).

Contact

If you are a funder of HIV prevention and cure R&D, we would love to hear from you. You can participate in the HIV Research Investment Survey by getting in touch at hivresourcetracking@avac.org.