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Attending INTEREST 2026? Resources to Support Your Participation

INTEREST will take place 12-15 May in Tanzania, covering new advances in HIV prevention, treatment, cure, and vaccine R&D; implementation science; and how science is being translated into impact. AVAC has compiled resources and highlights.

Uganda Key Populations Consortium Conversation on LEN

AVAC Infographics for INTEREST 2026

For those presenting at INTEREST, AVAC’s latest infographics on HIV R&D and the delivery pipeline, the current landscape of prevention options are available in an easy-to-use slide format—including lenacapavir for HIV PrEP volume commitments, and the impact of US funding cuts with new data from PEPFAR.

EXPrESSIVE Phase III Program Countries of MK-8527

Seventeen countries are hosting sites for the Phase 3 efficacy trials of a monthly PrEP pill, MK-8527, being developed by Merck (also known as MSD outside of the US and Canada). Merck announced the launch of the Phase 3 trials at IAS 2025 in Kigali. MK-8527 was found to be safe and well-tolerated in Phase 2 clinical trials.

What the Latest PEPFAR Data Reveal and Why It Matters

Newly released data from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) were meant to reassure, but a deeper look tells a more concerning story. Independent reviews and analyses of the data show consistent declines across testing, diagnoses and prevention. See the AVAC resources that put this all into context.

Data Don’t Lie, But the Story is Distorted

For more than two decades, PEPFAR has been widely recognized as one of the most effective global health programs that, with consistent bipartisan support, has weathered global disruptions and crises from Ebola to COVID-19. Today, PEPFAR’s legacy is facing a different kind of test: not a biological threat, but a political one.

Planting Seeds in These Times: Stories of Resistance and Possibility for the HIV Movement

Global Health Watch: PEPFAR Data Reveal Prevention Crisis, Impact of HIV Cuts on South Africa, CDC Blocks COVID-19 Vaccine Report

Newly released PEPFAR data reveals declines in HIV testing and prevention; a new report details the impact of US funding cuts on HIV programs in South Africa; and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) blocks publication showing the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination adding to further turmoil around US vaccine policy and scientific transparency.

Decline in PEPFAR Supported PrEP

Official characterizations of the HIV response as “doing very good” warrant a closer look at the data. AVAC’s analysis of PEPFAR prevention figures shows PrEP initiations declined 41% in one year, with women and men each seeing drops exceeding 50%. Data on key populations remains unavailable.

Source of Lenacapavir for PrEP Supply to Early Adopter Countries

The Global Fund, with support from CIFF, and PEPFAR have jointly committed to reaching up to two million people with injectable lenacapavir for PrEP over three years. Supply of LEN began arriving in countries in late 2025 with service delivery planned to start in early 2026.