HIV Prevention News Around The Globe

Strengthening Partnerships to End AIDS in Children

Angola is facing a generalised epidemic of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), with sexual transmission being the main form of spread. According to the Multiple Health Indicator Survey, the prevalence rate in the general population aged 15 to 49 is 2 per cent higher in women than in men.

The HIV epidemic is mainly concentrated in urban areas and has a higher prevalence and incidence in the east and south of the country, which includes the province of Lunda Norte. The 7th National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan (PEN7) considers Lunda Norte one of the five priority provinces for accelerating and strengthening joint monitoring, technical support and supervision. In this context, under the leadership of the National Institute for the Fight Against AIDS (INLS), the secretariat of the United Nations Joint HIV/AIDS Team (UNAIDS) together with WHO, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNODC, UNFPA, PEPFAR and partners from Civil Society Organisations (Mwana Pow, ACADEJ, ANASO and MWENHO) will be carrying out a mission to Lunda Norte province from 10 to 11 June for advocacy and awareness-raising meetings.

The purpose of the visit is to disseminate and ensure support for the implementation of the VII National Strategic Plan for the Response to HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections, intending to strengthen, above all, HIV prevention and treatment actions among young people, exposed children and children living with HIV, seeking to contribute to enhancing the integration of primary care and services, strengthening Sexual and Reproductive Health services and reducing the determinants of gender-based violence.

You can read more about the update here

U.S. Clinical Trials Begin for Twice-Yearly HIV Prevention Injection

Two clinical trials have been launched to examine a novel long-acting form of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in cisgender women and people who inject drugs. The mid-stage studies will assess the safety, acceptability, and pharmacokinetics (how a drug moves through the body) of lenacapavir, an antiretroviral drug administered by injection every six months. The studies are sponsored and funded by Gilead Sciences, Inc., and implemented through the HIV Prevention Trails Network (HPTN). The HPTN is supported by grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, with scientific collaboration on this study and others from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) as well as co-funding from NIDA and other NIH institutes.

Lenacapavir is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration for HIV treatment, in combination with other antiretroviral therapy, of heavily treatment-experienced individuals, whose HIV infections cannot be successfully treated with other available treatments due to resistance, intolerance, or safety considerations with other drugs and developed multidrug resistance.

You can read more about the report here

Health Ministry set to roll out new HIV testing model in July

The government targets to end HIV by 2030, a time when more than1.3 million Kenyans are living with the disease, with 22,154 new infections reported last year.

As Kenya races against time to eradicate HIV infections, access to treatment in early years has been identified as key in ensuring better health outcomes.The Ministry of Health is now seeking to enhance HIV testing to end the disease. Director of Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative - Institute of Clinical Research (KAVI), Prof Omu Anzala, emphasizes that testing enhances prevention and treatment. But Prof Anzala, a virologist, says vaccination is a sure way of ending HIV although science is yet to yield fruits. “There is need to eliminate the disease to stop circulation, and then have it eradicated,” says Kavi director who has been part of a team of experts researching on HIV vaccines and treatment.

Kenya has adopted three-test algorithms or testing method, for general and antenatal populations (pregnant and lactating mothers), with a target for site-level, overseen by the National Aids and STI Control Program (Nascop). The new testing model is set for roll out in July.

You can read more about the news here

ACTG Announces Launch of its First HIV Cure Clinical Trial in Africa

ACTG, a global clinical trials network focused on HIV and other infectious diseases, today announced the opening of the PAUSE study (Pausing Antiretroviral Treatment Under Structured Evaluation, also known as A5416/HVTN 806/HPTN 108), the first ACTG HIV cure clinical trial to take place on the African continent. PAUSE is a phase 1, double-blind, randomized study evaluating the safety and efficacy of the two long-acting broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) 3BNC117-LS-J and 10-1074-LS-J, compared to placebo in adults living with HIV who discontinue antiretroviral therapy (ART) during a closely monitored treatment pause (known as an analytic treatment interruption).

While current ART can manage HIV very well, it does not cure it. People living with HIV have to take ART for the rest of their lives in order to suppress viral replication and protect their immune systems. Even when taking ART, people living with HIV have latent HIV reservoirs – groups of immune cells that contain HIV but do not produce new copies. When people stop taking ART, virus in the latent cells begins to multiply, thereby increasing the amount of HIV in a person’s body. The approach being studied in PAUSE represents an important part of a novel multi-component intervention that could eventually enable the immune system to control HIV in the absence of ART for weeks or months.

You can read more about the update here

Advocates Spotlight 

WACI Health's youth leadership and advocacy program recently onboarded a new cohort of mentees. This program aims at creating a cadre of high quality and impact youth advocates. Our current cohort has young people from different African countries who meet online twice a week for mentorship. The program involves regularly bringing in mentors and experts to speak on and share their experiences. Meet Olushina O. Oladeji who is an HIV prevention advocate based in Nigeria.

Olushina O. Oladeji is a final-year medical student at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Oyo State, Nigeria, and a certified mentee of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (GCFR). With a keen interest in SDG 3, he is passionate about implementing practical solutions to community issues. His goals and vision align with policymaking, research, analysis, and public health. Olushina has six years of hands-on leadership experience through training, professional fellowships, and a substantial amount of work experience. This includes significant experience in disease prevention in Nigerian communities, particularly HIV. In 2019, 2021, and 2022, he coordinated medical outreaches for over three thousand people annually in selected communities in Oyo State, which involved HIV testing, advocacy, and research.

Serving as the Vice Regional Coordinator for the Federation of African Medical Students' Associations, West Africa, and the Editor-In-Chief of the National Association of University Students (NAUS) are testaments to his leadership skills. He has benefited from prestigious opportunities such as The Bridge Program (2019), LEAP Africa (2022), the Harvard University Aspire Leaders Program (2023), and the Theirworld Global Youth Ambassador program (2024).

OPPORTUNITIES

APPLIED LEARNING WORKSHOP

Advancing Inclusion of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth in Family Planning and Sexual and Reproductive Health Programs

Breakthrough ACTION cordially invites you to submit an expression of interest for our upcoming applied learning workshop on the Advancing Inclusion of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth in Family Planning and Sexual and Reproductive Health Programs: Insights to Action Brief. The workshop will take place the week of July 8–12, 2024 (see the expression of interest for session dates and times).

During this virtual workshop, participants will apply insights and actions from this new technical brief to a relevant project of their choosing. They will also exchange knowledge and experience with others working to design and implement family planning and sexual and reproductive health programs in low- and middle-income countries that are more affirming, inclusive, and equitable for youth in all their diversity.

Deadline: 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday, June 23.

To apply to participate, find the expression of interest form here

The Moth Global Community Program, Global Health Innovation Personal Storytelling Workshops in Nairobi, Kenya, August/September 2024

The Moth, the internationally-acclaimed organization dedicated to the art and craft of personal stories told live, in partnership with the Gates Foundation, will conduct a storytelling workshop to explore stories that highlight the importance of global health innovation – in terms of new technologies, game-changing products, or innovative approaches – to improve lives and uplift communities. For those with personal stories about the power of science and global health innovation to improve lives and transform communities. Areas of focus could include women’s health or infectious diseases, and preferably people who have benefited from innovations in health or worked on innovative products, technologies, and approaches.

Global Health Innovation Workshop Dates:

(Applicants will select one of these two workshops)

Workshop 1: August 26-28, 2024

Workshop 2: August 31 - September 2, 2024

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Application Deadline: June 24

You can read more and apply here

Upcoming Events

The International Workshop on HIV, SRHR, & Adolescence 2024 will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 2-4 October 2024.

This workshop aims to look at the fuller lives of adolescents and address the multiple overlapping drivers that impact their sexual and reproductive health and HIV needs. It explores new and innovative approaches, such as digital technology, and focuses on adolescents’ agency and leadership to control their health and lives.

Register here to join conversations with Dr. Carl Dieffenbach, Director of the Division of AIDS (DAIDS) at the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) about the future of global HIV research.