HIV Prevention News Around The Globe

Kenya to benefit from Sh6tr China grants to Africa

Kenya will be among other African countries to benefit from Sh6.4 trillion ($50 billion) worth of grants in the next three years on health, agriculture and military assistance, Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced.

While announcing his 10-point agenda for the African countries, President Jinping promised some Sh18.1 billion worth of grants in military assistance, provide training for 6,000 military personnel and 1,000 police and law enforcement officers from Africa, and invited 500 young African military officers to visit China.

The Chinese leader said the two sides will conduct joint military exercises, training and patrol, carry out an “action for a mine-free Africa” and jointly ensure the safety of personnel and projects.

“China and Africa account for one-third of the world population. Without our modernization, there will be no global modernization. In the next three years, China will work with Africa on partnership actions for modernization to deepen China-Africa cooperation and spearhead the Global South modernization,” said President Jinping.

“Africa is also awakening and the continent is marching in solid strides toward the modernization goals outlined in the AU’s Agenda 2063. China and Africa’s joint pursuit of modernization will set off a wave of modernization in the Global South, and open a new chapter in our drive for a community with a shared future for mankind,” he said.

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Report: New HIV cases rise outside Sub-Saharan Africa for the first time

An estimated 1.3 million people acquired HIV in 2023, according to the 2024 “AIDS at a Crossroads” report by the joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). This increase brings the total number of people living with HIV globally to 39.9 million.

Notably, the report highlights a significant shift: for the first time, more new infections are occurring outside sub-Saharan Africa than within it. This shift reflects the success of prevention efforts in sub-Saharan Africa and the lack of comparable progress in other regions. According to the report, Asia and the Pacific recorded 300,000 new cases, while Eastern Europe and Central Asia saw 140,000, Latin America reported 120,000, and the Middle East and North Africa recorded 23,000. In contrast, Eastern and Southern Africa reported 450,000 new cases, and Western and Central Africa reported 190,000.

The incidence of HIV among adolescent girls and young women aged 15–24 years remains alarmingly high in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In 2023, 120,000 adolescent girls and young women acquired HIV, bringing the global number of children living with HIV to 1.4 million, 86% of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa.However, the report also notes that the number of new HIV infections among children aged 0–14 years has decreased, largely due to successful interventions in eastern and southern Africa, where new infections in children have fallen by 73% between 2010 and 2023.

Countries like Kenya, Malawi, Nepal and Zimbabwe have reduced their annual new HIV infections by 75%, and 18 other countries have reduced their new infections by more than 60% since 2010. The report emphasizes that access to anti-retroviral therapy has more than halved the annual number of AIDS-related deaths, from 1.3 million in 2010 to 630,000 in 2023. An estimated 30.7 million people were receiving HIV treatment in 2023.

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Vaginal ring: Women to access long-acting and self-controlled HIV prevention method

What you need to know:

It is infused with the antiretroviral drug dapivirine, which is released slowly over the course of a month, to prevent the virus from establishing an infection.

Experts say that it requires minimal upkeep—once in place, it only needs to be replaced once a month.

The partnership has committed Sh258 million ( $2 million ) over the next year to procure up to 150,000 HIV prevention rings for countries receiving Global Fund grants. The one-month ring currently costs Sh1,545 ($12.8), but the initiative has announced it will create a bridge to the three-month PrEP ring, which will cost less than Sh2,060 ($16) excluding distribution, representing a nearly 60 per cent drop in price per month. The Sh258 million is expected to cover the initial batch that reaches the customer.

The dapivirine vaginal ring, also known as the DapiRing, is a long-acting HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) option specifically designed in the form of a small, flexible silicone ring, inserted into the vagina to provide discreet, and continuous protection against HIV during vaginal sex. It is infused with the antiretroviral drug dapivirine, which is released slowly over the course of a month, to prevent the virus from establishing an infection. Experts say that it requires minimal upkeep—once in place, it only needs to be replaced once a month.

This innovative device has already received regulatory approval in 11 countries across Eastern and Southern Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.

You can read more about it here

HIV has peaked at 32.2% among Gauteng residents aged 50-54

Gauteng has recorded a high prevalence of HIV among residents aged between 50 and 54.

The shocking revelations are contained in the sixth South African HIV prevalence, incidence and behaviour survey for Gauteng released by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). The findings were released at a provincial dialogue in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, recently.

Prof Khangelani Zuma, the overall principal investigator of the study, said the HIV prevalence peaked at 32.2% among residents aged between 50 and 54 in 2022. Zuma said in 2017 the prevalence peak was in a younger age group, at 31.9% among those aged 35-39.

The survey found that, compared with other provinces, Gauteng had the third-lowest HIV prevalence, at 11.9% in 2022 and 12.1% in 2017. This translated into an estimated 1,720,000 people living with HIV in Gauteng in 2022, representing an insignificant 0.2% decline from the 1,780,000 reported in 2017. “The findings also showed that in 2022 HIV prevalence in the province was disproportionately higher among those aged 25—49 years at 20% (females 24.9% and males 14.1%). HIV prevalence was also higher among people living in rural formal or farm areas, at 12.7%,” said Zuma.

“The data presented are for five priority districts of Gauteng, namely City of Tshwane, City of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Sedibeng and West Rand, as per the study protocol. Among the five districts, the highest HIV prevalence was in Sedibeng, at 13.2%”. The province’s antiretroviral treatment (ART) coverage increased to 73.4% in 2022 from 56.0% in 2017.

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Childhood HIV vaccination strategy shows promise in study

Research at Weill Cornell Medicine suggests that childhood immunization against HIV could one day provide protection before the risk of contracting this potentially fatal infection dramatically increases in adolescence.

The study, published Aug. 30 in Science Immunology, demonstrated that a series of six vaccinations containing a modified protein from the surface of HIV particles stimulated initial steps of a potent immune response in young nonhuman primates. This difficult-to-achieve response represents an important step toward providing full and potentially lifelong protection against the virus, the researchers say.

HIV predominantly infects immune cells called CD4 T cells, leaving individuals vulnerable to opportunistic diseases. Without lifelong treatment, infection is fatal. In 2022, an estimated 140,000 adolescents between ages 10 and 19 worldwide became infected with the virus—a group that is overrepresented in the number of new infections. Vaccine researchers are seeking ways to stimulate the immune system to make "broadly neutralizing antibodies" against the virus before a person is exposed to it. These antibodies attack a crucial part of the HIV virus—the protein on its surface that binds to CD4 T cells. In doing so, broadly neutralizing antibodies prevent many strains of HIV from entering the cell and infecting it.

In this study, the researchers started with an experimental vaccine developed previously from spike proteins on the envelope of HIV particles. Study authors John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology, and Rogier Sanders, an adjunct associate professor of research in microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine and a professor at Amsterdam UMC, sought to improve this vaccine by altering the viral protein.

You can read more about the study here

Opportunities

Call for Abstracts for the 4th International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA)

CPHIA is the largest annual public health gathering in Africa and the second largest globally after the World Health Assembly.

Key details

Submission deadline: Monday, 23 September 2024 by 23:59hrs EAT/20:59hrs UTC. No abstracts will be accepted past the official deadline.

Notification date: Applicants will be notified of acceptances by Friday, 18 October 2024.

Presentation: Accepted abstracts will be presented at the CPHIA 2024 conference in Rabat, Morocco, on 26 – 29 November.

You can read more about the guidelines and how to submit your abstract here

Call for expressions of interest to serve 2024-2026 United Nations WHO Youth Council (Fully-funded and open to youth worldwide)

The World Health Organization (WHO) is excited to announce the opening of the application process for the second term of the WHO Youth Council, scheduled to run from 2024 to 2026. This is a unique opportunity for organizations worldwide to contribute to global health initiatives by engaging in meaningful youth-focused discussions and activities. WHO invites eligible organizations to submit their expressions of interest and encourages all applicants to review the provided instructions and eligibility criteria carefully

We are asking all WHO Youth Council members to be a part of the WHO Civil Society Commission. If your organization is not yet a member, please submit your application here in addition to submitting your expression of interest for the WHO Youth Council.

Application process

Interested organizations are required to complete the online application form available at WHO Youth Council Application Form.