January 7, 2022
[UPDATE]: Visit here for the recording, to download slides, and read a summary.
On Thursday, January 13, AVAC held Ups & Downs in the Field: Setting an Agenda Together for HIV Prevention in 2022, a webinar looking at the latest advances, disappointments and opportunities in HIV prevention.
Watch the lively conversation with Rachel Baggaley from the World Health Organization; Linda-Gail Bekker from South Africa’s Desmond Tutu Health Foundation; Grace Kumwenda of Pakachere Institute of Health and Development Communication; and Kenneth Mwehonge, the new executive director of Coalition for Health Promotion and Social Development (HEPS-Uganda).
2022 begins in the midst of possibility and uncertainty. Some HIV prevention interventions are advancing at record speed while others face unexpected challenges. With lessons learned from oral PrEP, new targets from UNAIDS putting social drivers of epidemics in focus, and pioneering innovation ignited in the response to COVID-19, the ability is at hand to fundamentally impact the epidemic through primary prevention. It means offering a full spectrum of much needed prevention choices to the people who need them most. And it depends on the core priorities AVAC has long championed: follow the science, center communities in the response and lead with equity.
This webinar provided an opportunity to address key questions including: where we are with the introduction of injectable CAB-LA and the Dapivirine Vaginal Ring; the development status of islatravir as a monthly pill and injectable lenacapavir as promising new PrEP agents whose trials were put on hold late in 2021; and how to ensure HIV prevention, and equitable access to innovation, do not fall further behind; and much more.