CNS: HIVR4P

Showing posts with label HIVR4P. Show all posts

Inconvenient question: Science is gifting us new HIV prevention tools but is it expanding choices for the people?

[watch the video interview] Any new HIV prevention method is not meant to sit on the shelf but to be used by the people who need it to protect themselves from HIV. We have to ensure that new HIV prevention technologies that are coming out of the scientific research pipelines, are accessible to people everywhere - especially those who are more at risk of HIV acquisition. Jim Pickett has passionately called for translating scientific gains into public health outcomes - not with delay, but with equity and justice.

It is alarming to note that as per UNAIDS data the annual number of new HIV infections in the Latin American countries increased by 9% between 2010 and 2023, despite the advent of powerful new prevention tools like PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis).

[watch the video] Imagine failing 1.3 million times in a year: Failure to ensure that everyone has access to prevention options to protect oneself from HIV acquisition, has resulted in at least 1.3 million new HIV infections in 2023. The pace of progress towards ending AIDS is out of step if we are to end AIDS by 2030.

[video] New HIV prevention technologies must be accessible to people: Jim Pickett at #HIVR4P

Choices for women and girls for HIV prevention: So near and yet so far

Longstanding gender inequalities, discrimination and poverty deny many women and girls bodily and economic autonomy - which deprives them of control over their sexual health, and increase the risk of preventable infections like HIV. Women and girls are still disproportionately affected with HIV.

The reality is a mix of YES and NO. While the facts and figures shared in the latest report by UNAIDS reveal that as a world we are NOT already on the path, they do show that we CAN be there if world leaders take bold actions ensuring that the HIV response has the resources it needs and that the human rights of everyone are protected.

Another feather in the cap of treatment as HIV prevention

- A Groundbreaking HIV Prevention Option -

Results of a phase 3 PURPOSE 1 HIV prevention study done among adolescent girls and young women in South Africa and Uganda show that there were no HIV infections in HIV-negative women who received 6 monthly (twice yearly) injectable investigational drug Lenacapavir - an injectable form of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) drug developed by Gilead Sciences. In other words, an HIV negative woman will need just two injections a year of this long acting drug to remain safe from acquiring HIV through the sexual route.

Are we failing children in the HIV response?

Shobha Shukla - CNS

The promise was that by 2020, no child will be born with HIV or newly infected with HIV during breastfeeding across the world. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic posed an unprecedented challenge to health systems, the progress towards the HIV-related 2020 goalpost, despite some commendable gains, was not very encouraging.

HIV science has advanced but policies-programmes have been slow to #endAIDS

Shobha Shukla - CNS

[watch the interview with Mitchell Warren] HIV science has advanced but policies and programmes have been slow to respond towards ending AIDS, said Mitchell Warren, co-chair of the global conference on HIV Research for Prevention (HIVR4P) and Executive Director of AVAC (Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention).

Expanding range of options to prevent HIV is key as no one size fits all

Shobha Shukla - CNS

While the currently available HIV prevention and treatment tools have helped reduce new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths by 23% and 39% respectively since 2010, we still have a long way to go before ending this epidemic. With 1.7 million new HIV infections and 690,000 AIDS-related deaths in 2019, one cannot but over emphasise the urgent need to have more HIV prevention options, including long-acting HIV prevention strategies that might prove to be more acceptable and user friendly to people from diverse communities.

This podcast features Mitchell Warren, who is among the most respected voices on human rights-based responses to #endAIDS. He is in conversation with CNS founder and Executive Director Shobha Shukla. He shares insights on range of issues spanning over two decades on HIV prevention research, ethics and human rights as scientific studies go forward, learnings from COVID-19 vaccine research, dire need to engage all stakeholders (political will and leadership, funders/ donors, regulators, manufacturers, communities among others) and a lot more! He is also the co-chair of ongoing 4th HIV Research For Prevention global conference, and Executive Director of AVAC.

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, aCast, Podtail, BluBrry, Himalaya, ListenNotes, American Podcasts, CastBox FM, Ivy FM, PodAlong, and other podcast streaming platforms.

[video] HIV science has advanced but politics, policies and human rights have been far too slow to adapt to #endAIDS

The ring has finally arrived!

Shobha Shukla - CNS

You guessed it right. I am talking about the dapivirine vaginal ring (DPV-VR), which is one of the top advances happening in the field of microbicides. It is the first long acting prevention product whose Phase-3 randomised controlled studies have shown that using the dapivirine vaginal ring reduced the risk of HIV infection in women and long-term use was well-tolerated.

Get the vaccine shot but do not throw away the mask to fight COVID-19

Shobha Shukla - CNS

The message from all scientists is very loud and clear that vaccines alone will not be able to stem the tide of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even after getting vaccinated, we will have to continue to wear masks, maintain physical distancing, wash hands frequently and avoid congregated settings, to break the chain of transmission of the virus.

This UHC Day Podcast features a stimulating conversation with 7 women leaders who spoke with CNS Managing Editor Shobha Shukla at HIV Research for Prevention or HIV R4P International Conference in Madrid, Spain in October 2018. Experts include: Lisa Rossi, Director, Communications and External Relations, MTN (Microbicide Trials Network), USA; Zurah Nakabugo, health journalist, The Observer, Uganda; Thandeka Moyo, health journalist, The Chronicle, Zimbabwe; Angela Oketch, health and science journalist, The Nation, Kenya; Winnie Botha, health journalist, Malawi; Vicky Wandawa, health journalist, The New Vision, Uganda; and Ida Jooste, global health advisor, InterNews.

Universal Health Coverage or UHC is critical for health security. Countries require a strong primary health care platform as the backbone of universal health coverage, in absence of which, we are risking losing gains made in fighting AIDS or TB or malaria or other disease control. We cannot afford not to strengthen UHC. In addition to UHC, we also need to scale up research and development of better tools to prevent infections such as HIV. We not only need new HIV prevention tools but we also need more choices especially for those who are at heightened risk of HIV such as girls and women.

Thanks

CNS eLearning Programme Team
Email: webinar@citizen-news.org
Website: www.citizen-news.org