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This was originally published on the What'sUpHIV blog that provided live coverage during HIV R4P 2014.
While numbers and slogans are important in themselves, focus should also be given to interventions that are making positive impact," that's how Mitchell Warren, Executive Director of AVAC, opened the 2014 HIV R4P Advocates' Pre-Conference Workshop.
In his talk, titled, HIV Prevention: Research, reality & context, Warren observed that, "method mix is needed by the community members and not the policy maker." And so it is critical for civil society to push for access to the full range of biomedical interventions which research has proven efficacious, like PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis) and VMMC (voluntary medical male circumcision). Such interventions have to be embraced by policy makers in Africa, if the quest to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 is going to be achieved.
Warren summed up by saying that, "It is therefore incumbent upon us to ensure that all our efforts are aimed at rolling out interventions that would save more people from contracting HIV in our communities." I couldn't agree more.