CNS: microbicide

Showing posts with label microbicide. Show all posts

Shobha Shukla's exclusive trilogy (3 article-series) from #IAS2021

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

[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.

[Podcast] Will a long-acting & female-initiated HIV prevention option be a game-changer?

[Podcast] Accelerating R&D of long-acting and short-acting tools to prevent HIV is key to #endAIDS: Interview with Jim Pickett

[Podcast] Expanding choices to prevent unintended pregnancy, STIs, HIV, is vital

Why expanding options to prevent unintended pregnancy, STIs, HIV, is key

[Podcast] Update on HIV prevention research from Dr Nirupama Sista, HPTN Director

Research for new HIV prevention tools, gives hope

We want the ring...

Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service)

That seemed to be the resonating refrain of women at the HIV Research for Prevention Conference (HIVR4P2018) held recently in Madrid, Spain. And no, they were not talking about the engagement ring. Their focus of interest was the intra-vaginal dapivirine vaginal ring - a long acting female-initiated, self-administered product that has been found to be highly effective in reducing the risk of HIV infection.

HIV prevention: Bridging the gap between research and impact

Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service)

[Podcast] We are at an incredible moment in the history of the HIV/AIDS response, which reflected in the vibrancy of the HIV Research for Prevention (HIVR4P 2018) - the only global scientific conference focused on the fast-growing field of biomedical HIV prevention research. Today, the latest research in different areas of biomedical HIV prevention, including vaccines, rings, microbicides and other female-controlled forms of prevention, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and long-acting delivery systems, offer the greatest promise of significantly slowing the toll of the disease.

[AIDS 2016] We cannot end AIDS by 2030 if we put SRHR on blindspot

Embarrassment of riches in HIV prevention response?

Dr Mitchell Warren, AVAC

"There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction" - insightful words of former US President JF Kennedy come in mind while listening to respected HIV prevention research advocate, Dr Mitchell Warren, who is the Executive Director of AVAC - Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention. Considerable improvements have happened in HIV responses but a lot remains undone. With research taking place in HIV science, lot of credible evidence is stacking up on not just basic sciences, but also socio-behavioural and operational aspects of rolling out what we know works. Despite loads of evidence, some policies and practices are not evidence-based and impede HIV responses on the ground.

As HIV prevention needs and contexts vary, it is important to expand the range of effective prevention options that people can use. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said in a video link at the first-ever international conference on all HIV-related biomedical prevention research, that “No single method of prevention can end this epidemic on its own." That is why conferences on microbicides and vaccines merged to provide one single global platform to deliberate on a spectrum of biomedical prevention research for HIV. HIV Research for Prevention (HIVR4P) is being held in Cape Town, South Africa.