HIV Prevention News Around The Globe

UNAIDS Urges Other Countries to Follow Namibia’s Example and Repeal anti-LGBTQ Laws

UNAIDS has welcomed the recent ruling by Namibia’s High Court that its laws prohibiting same-sex acts between men are unconstitutional as they unfairly discriminate against gay men.

Namibian citizen Friedel Dausab, supported by the Human Dignity Trust, sought to have laws prohibiting sodomy and “unnatural sex acts” and sections of the Immigration Control Act and the Defence Act that criminalised homosexuality declared invalid.

He brought the case against the Ministers of Justice, Home Affairs and Defence, the Prosecutor General and the Attorney General.

Judges Nate Ndauendapo, Shafimana Ueitele and Claudia Claasen ruled in Dausab’s favour, noting that these laws discriminated as they treated gay men differently from women who have sex with men, and heterosexual men who have sex with women.

You can read more about the news here

New Twice-Yearly Injection Lenacapavir Hailed As Biggest HIV Advancement To Date

A new twice-a-year injection, lenacapavir by pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, is being hailed as a one of the biggest advancements in HIV/AIDS prevention to date.

A clinical trial in Uganda and South Africa, involving 2,134 women and girls aged 16-25, had been so successful that Gilead reported it was terminating early.

More than 2000 patients received the lenacapavir injections, and during the clinical trial’s period, not one single patient contracted HIV.

An independent review of the results by the trial’s data and safety monitoring board found that a regimen of lenacapavir every six months was safe and highly effective.

The demographics of the clinical trial focussed on young women aged 16-25. This demographic of people is the worst affected by HIV in Southern Africa.

You can read more about the update here

New US drug reported to give 'total protection' against HIV

GILEAD Sciences, Inc. a pharmaceutical research firm based in Forster City, California in the United States, has obtained approval of a new therapy for resistant HIV/AIDS named Sunlenca, trading by the medical name of lenacapavir.

The new drug, in combination with other antiretroviral(s) (ARV), has been granted approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in heavily treatment-experienced (HTE) adults.

Synthesised in relation to multi-drug resistant (MDR) HIV-1 infection, Sunlenca or lenacapavir has a multi-stage mechanism of action distinguishable from other currently approved classes of antiviral agents, business daily reported early in the week.

It said the new drug has no known cross resistance exhibited in vitro in relation to other existing drug classes. “Sunlenca offers a new, twice-yearly treatment option for adults with HIV that is not adequately controlled by their current treatment regimen,” the chronicle indicated.

In the wake of the news, researchers and activists in the trenches of the long fight against HIV had a rare piece of excitement, as the world came to grips with the fact that results from a large clinical trial in Africa showed that a twice-yearly injection of the new antiviral drug gave young women total protection from the virus.

You can read more about the news here

Statement From The Gilead’s Purpose 1 Global Community Accountability Board, The African Women’s Prevention Community Accountability Board, Our Partners And Community Partners

We congratulate Gilead Sciences Inc. on achieving this remarkable milestone with the ground–breaking interim results from the PURPOSE 1 HIV Prevention Trial that is currently being conducted in Uganda and South Africa. The demonstration of 100% efficacy for Lenacapavir in preventing new HIV infections among cisgender women and adolescent girls aged 16-25 from an interim analysis marks a pivotal moment in our collective fight against HIV infections.

We must acknowledge and celebrate the crucial role of African women and communities in this study. Their active participation, resilience, and strong commitment have been instrumental in reaching this landmark achievement. This success is as much theirs as is Gilead’s.

As we move forward, we emphasise that choice in HIV prevention options for women and girls is paramount and must always be prioritised. Lenacapavir, if approved, will be a significant addition to the prevention toolkit, but it should complement what is in existencerather than coming in as a replacement.

We call on Gilead to demonstrate its commitment by immediately ensuring access through open-label extension studies. Clinical trial participants must receive priority access to the injection quickly to honor their contribution to this breakthrough.

You can read more about the statement here

From protest to progress in the global response to HIV/AIDS

The events that take place across Pride Month demonstrate the power of inclusivity. The determination of LGBTQ+ communities and allies to ensure inclusion for all people has been core to the progress made in recent decades. We can ensure a fairer, safer future for all by insisting on acceptance and rejecting criminalization, discrimination, and stigmatization. By protecting everyone's human rights, we will protect everyone's health.

Pride has always been a protest and commemoration as much as a celebration. More than 50 years ago, the first Pride marchers in New York rejected the shame others sought to impose on them and honored the memory of people who were mistreated and defamed.

For them, defiance and joy were not opposites; their joy was defiance.Pride has always been about collective action for justice. It is not a coincidence that the networks built by LGBTQ+ activists in the late 1960s went on to pioneer the community response to HIV at the onset of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s. They helped mitigate the spread and impact of the virus by providing peer-to-peer information about HIV and delivering care and support at a time when no one else was willing to do so. They reached out in partnership to defend all minorities from discrimination and violence. They launched campaigns to overturn the laws and attitudes that violate human rights and obstruct people's access to services.

You can read more about the report 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 Miranda Ziba who is an HIV prevention advocate based in Zambia.

Miranda Ziba, from Zambia,, serves as a Project officer at The Youth Platform Zambia (TYP) and is currently a Youth Constituency Alternate member for the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) for the Global Fund in Zambia. With over seven years of experience in HIV prevention, Miranda has been a dedicated advocate for Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) in Zambia, focusing on community mobilization, advocacy,and policy development. Notable achievements include mentoring over 206 AGYW, mobilizing diverse peer groups to advocate for comprehensive SRHR services, and contributing to national documents like the PEPFAR Country Operational Plan and the National AIDS Strategic Framework.

Miranda's motivation for joining the AfNHi Mentorship Program is to leverage innovative approaches to address pressing HIV prevention issues, particularly seeking insights into sustainable strategies for HIV prevention and SRHR advocacy. She aims to collaborate with seasoned mentors to develop effective and inclusive projects that drive tangible impact within communities. Miranda brings strong leadership and mentoring skills, demonstrated by her role as chair of the District HIV/AIDS Task Force and her involvement in various technical working groups.

Upcoming Events

The 25th International AIDS Conference

AIDS 2024, the 25th International AIDS Conference, will take place in Munich, Germany, and virtually from 22 to 26 July 2024. Pre-conferences will be held on 20 and 21 July. The Global Village (free entry) opens its gates on Sunday 21 July.

AIDS 2024 will provide a powerful platform to strategically align around a unified and equitable response to the pandemic. It will signal to the world that the HIV response is united behind an evidence-based approach that puts people first.

If interested, please mark your calendars and register your attendance here.