Welcome to P-Values, AVAC’s
bulletin highlighting advocacy work by our
partners and many other stakeholders around the
world. “P-value” is a statistical term for
the probability that a trial result is a real
finding and not the result of chance. As the
world faces new challenges and opportunities in
prevention research, the global advocacy
community isn’t leaving anything to chance.
P-Values tracks HIV work on
country-and community-level engagement in
trials, preparing for results and
implementation of new findings. Here’s what
you need to know now.
US Military HIV Research Program
Faces Drastic Budget Cuts
On December 9th, AVAC and partners
will hold a congressional briefing aimed at
preserving funding for the US
Military HIV Research Program (MHRP). The
Department of the Army is considering cutting
over 70 percent of the MHRP Army research
budget in 2012. The upcoming briefing will
inform Congressional staff about the potential
impact of the cuts prior to the upcoming vote
on the US Department of Defense appropriations
bill. The potential reduction in the MHRP
budget cut comes at a time when international
vaccine research is building on the results of
the landmark RV144
study, which was conducted by the MHRP with
Thai collaborators and showed the first
evidence that an AIDS vaccine could protect
against infection. Subsequent follow-up studies
which also included MHRP scientists have
identified immune correlates linked to risk of
infection among vaccine recipients. AVAC has
been working with partners since this summer to
urge the US Congress and the Obama
Administration to restore MHRP funding through
visits, sign-on letters and blog
postings.
Planning for Expanded Microbicide
Research and Implementation
At the annual African regional meeting of the
Microbicide Trial Network (MTN) in Cape Town,
South Africa this past October, AVAC and many
of our coalition partners led and contributed
to discussions about key emerging issues in
microbicides research. 2011 AVAC Fellow Brian
Kanyemba led a civil society consultation
providing feedback for an upcoming rectal
microbicide trial being planned for several
countries, including South Africa. Several AVAC
Fellows and partners also participated in a
full-day joint civil society and MTN Community
Working Group meeting, Next Steps for HIV
Prevention in Women: Tenofovir Gel and
Beyond. In addition AVAC Fellow Grace
Kamau and partners Bright Phiri of SAT and
Catherine Tomlinson of the Treatment Action
Campaign (TAC) joined MTN Community Working
Group members on a panel discussing community
concerns and perceptions and how to continue to
educate and involve communities and local media
about the research process. MTN, AVAC Fellows
and partners will continue to bring community
voices to the table, both in understanding the
implications of trial results and planning for
new trials.
Zambia National Good Participatory
Practices Workshop
On October 20th, AVAC and the Center
for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia
(CIDRZ) conducted a national workshop on the Good
Participatory Practice (GPP) guidelines.
About 70 individuals participated, representing
research teams throughout the country,
community advisory boards, advocacy and civil
society groups, and media. The workshop was
designed as a key step forward in building
stronger relationships between the media and
Zambian research stakeholders. In 2009, media
reports disseminated inaccurate rumors
regarding a large-scale microbicide trial, MDP
301. As a result, the Zambian Ministry of
Health temporarily halted all HIV prevention
research in the country. Today, prevention
trials are being approved and initiated once
again and work is ongoing to strengthen media
reporting capacity. The past year—in part due
to AVAC Fellow Oliver Kanene’s work—has
marked a thawing of the relationship between
researchers and the media. Introducing the
guidelines to this audience helped put a needed
and appreciated framework around how to
navigate relationships between researchers and
other stakeholders. Media and other key groups,
namely regulatory and ethics authorities, are
extremely excited to develop a “national GPP
consensus” that will mitigate possible
controversy in the future and ensure that
research can move forward in this country.
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