PrEParing for Change: The future of HIV management within a changing landscape
Since the first World AIDS Day 37 years ago, we’ve made significant strides through our commitment to research, the provision of essential services to those living with HIV and eliminating stigma through open communication and education.
From a South African context, the 1st of December is a key date because it reminds us of both the progress we’ve made and the ongoing work needed to address the high incidence of HIV infection. This risk is highest for women because of many social, biological, and economic factors highlighting the need for targeted prevention and education. Fortunately, the landscape is changing through growing resources, communication, and cutting-edge research.
In alignment with the World AIDS Day 2024 theme , “Collective Action: Sustain and Accelerate HIV Progress,” we invite you to join GIFT’s i fifth episode of Women up to Know Good, titled PrEParing for Change: The future of HIV management within a changing landscape.
This webinar features powerful voices in HIV research who will discuss the challenges of HIV prevention in women, from understanding risk perception to identifying motivations for prevention. In line with this, our panel will introduce key findings from a recent groundbreaking study on subcutaneous lenacapavir, involving over 5000 adolescent girls and young women. The distinguished panel will also discuss how both actual , and perceived risk, are key motivators for women considering PrEP. Additionally, panellists will discuss how the Genital Inflammation Test (GIFT), which measures inflammation biomarkers in the female genital tract, could be highly effective in motivating high-risk women to administer PrEP.
Panellists:
Professor Linda-Gail Bekker is the Director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, UCT and Chief Executive Officer of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation. Professor Bekker is a physician, scientist and infectious disease specialist. Her research interests include programmatic and action research around antiretroviral roll out and TB integration, prevention of HIV in women, youth and MSM. She is PI of the NIH (USA) funded UCTCTU and remains actively involved in the work of the four associated clinical research sites and four DAIDS networks. She has led numerous investigator driven studies in HIV treatment, prevention and tuberculosis. Bekker serves on numerous international scientific and advisory committees and served as President-Elect (2014- 2016) and then President (2016-2018) of the International AIDS Society. She is a A+ rated scientist, has published >700 peer-reviewed papers.
Dr. Dvora Joseph Davey is an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist with extensive experience in the design, management and evaluation of HIV prevention and sexual, reproductive health programs. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is based in Cape Town, South Africa where she is an Honorary Associate Professor in Epidemiology at the University of Cape Town. Dr. Joseph Davey has been actively engaged in global and South African policy development aimed at improving HIV prevention and sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnostics and treatment services among pregnant women and their families in sub-Saharan Africa. She is the Principal Investigator on several NIH-funded epidemiologic and implementation science studies on sexually transmitted infections, HIV prevention and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in pregnant and breastfeeding women in South Africa.
Facilitator:
Dr. Monalisa Manhanzva is a PhD-trained researcher at the University of Cape Town with a strong interest in women’s health and infectious disease prevention. Her research addresses HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), focusing on understanding and mitigating risks specific to women’s reproductive health.