2009 AVAC Report: Piecing Together the HIV Prevention Puzzle

The 2009 AVAC Report, Piecing Together the HIV Prevention Puzzle, took inspiration from a quotation in the 2006-2008 review of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery, which states that the ultimate goal “is to develop a vaccine that prevents HIV infection or disease, anything less than that can be characterized as progress, but not success.”

The first section of the Report, “Puzzling Out Progress,” reports on the AIDS vaccine field, where there’s an energized focus on discovery, innovation, and basic science. The second section, “Puzzling Out Success,” turns to the implications of PrEP and other strategies in efficacy trials today. Throughout, it is argued that success will depend on combination approaches: on research plus implementation; on vaccines plus PrEP, should either show benefit; and on communities plus researchers working towards common goals.