19 MARCH 2021 VOLUME 23 ISSUE 11

Media Coverage

• New Data Shows ‘Global Impact of COVID-19 on TB Epidemic Is Worse Than Expected’

  Over a million additional cases of tuberculosis (TB) went undiagnosed and untreated in the last year due to the impact of COVID-19-related lockdowns, significantly setting back the global effort to end TB by a massive 12 years, according to new data.

  March 19, 2021

  General

  Health-E News

• The Racial Justice Index Will Investigate Whether HIV Agencies Really Walk the Equity Walk

  In February, the national advocacy groups AIDS United and Black AIDS Institute partnered to announce that they would be creating a Racial Justice Index.

  March 18, 2021

  General

  The Body

• Disappointment and Hope From Two HIV Prevention Trials

  An antibody infusion being tested for preventing HIV does not seem to thwart most infections—but its success against certain strains of the virus suggests researchers are on the right track.

  March 17, 2021

  Antibody Related Research

  US News & World Report

• PEPFAR Planning Process Changes Raise Transparency Concerns

  The US government’s flagship global health initiative will pursue a “much shortened and streamlined” approach to planning this year. Some worry the decision could limit participation and transparency in one of the world’s most important processes for setting goals and charting investments to tackle infectious disease.

  March 16, 2021

  General

  Devex

• Trials, Tinsel & Tango: Go Inside Linda-Gail Bekker’s COVID World

  Linda-Gail Bekker runs a hand impatiently through her lilac and silver pixie-cut hair and stands up to open the windows in a tiny corner office at the Groote Schuur Hospital campus of the University of Cape Town (UCT).

  March 16, 2021

  General

  Bhekisisa

• PrEP Does Not Lower Hormone Levels in Young Transgender People, but Lower PrEP Levels Seen in Some Transgender Women

  Two studies were presented at the recent virtual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) looking at the interaction between gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), both conducted by Dr Jenna Yager and colleagues at the University of Colorado, provided reassurance that levels of GAHT are not significantly lower in young transgender men and women once they start taking PrEP.

  March 16, 2021

  PrEP

  aidsmap

• Gilead and Merck Join Forces to Develop Long-Acting HIV Treatment

  The big drugmakers said Monday they had agreed to explore whether a combination of two experimental drugs, which the companies had been researching separately, could treat HIV even if taken every several months.

  March 15, 2021

  Treatment

  Wall Street Journal

• Wealthy Countries Are Choosing Pharma Profits Over Global Immunity

  The wealthiest countries in the world have blocked the latest effort by poor nations to speed access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments by temporarily lifting World Trade Organization rules protecting intellectual property.

  March 15, 2021

  General

  Quartz

• To Be Cost Effective, Injectable PrEP Can Only Cost About $3000 More Than US Generic Oral PrEP

  We do not know how much injectable cabotegravir, the first long-acting formulation of pre-exposure prophylaxis, will be priced at when it comes on the market, probably late this year or early next year.

  March 15, 2021

  PrEP

  aidsmap

• Healers Lend a Hand to HIV Testing in Rural Uganda—Modern Medicine Benefits From Engaging With Local Traditions

  Traditional healers trained to administer HIV testing and counseling to their patients significantly increased the proportion of patients receiving testing and linkage to care in rural Uganda, a researcher said.

  March 14, 2021

  General

  MedPage Today

• Can the World Learn From South Africa’s Vaccine Trials?

  In a year that has seesawed between astonishing gains and brutal setbacks on COVID-19, few moments were as sobering as the revelation last month that a coronavirus variant in South Africa was dampening the effect of one of the world’s most potent vaccines.

  March 13, 2021

  General

  New York Times

• President Biden Vowed To End the HIV Epidemic by 2025 – But How Realistic Is That Goal?

  On the campaign trail last year, Joe Biden made an election pledge to end the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2025. That’s a five-year improvement on former President Donald Trump’s aim to end the epidemic by 2030. Now that Biden’s in the White House, how realistic is that goal?

  March 13, 2021

  General

  Queerty

• CROI Takeaways: Game-Changing HIV Injectables and Hope for a Cure

  Potential HIV cures and the advent of long-acting HIV treatment, delivered via subcutaneous injection, slow-release patch, or even a pill, were among the biggest findings revealed at this year's virtual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

  March 12, 2021

  Cure, PrEP, Treatment

  HIV Plus Mag

• Home Delivery of ARVs Could Be Key to Fighting HIV in Men, Study Finds

  Offering antiretroviral home deliveries for as little as R30 could drastically suppress HIV viral load among South African men, a new study has revealed. Researchers from the Human Sciences Research Council and the University of Washington tested the home-delivery concept in Pietermaritzburg during the lockdown by recruiting men through a community-based testing programme.

  March 12, 2021

  Treatment

  Sowetan Live

• Govt Targets 400,000 Men for Annual Circumcision

  At least 40 per cent of the male population in Rwanda have so far been circumcised but the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) is pushing to see that the number rises to 70 percent, the HIV Division Manager at Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), Dr. Gallican Rwibasira has said.

  March 12, 2021

  Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision

  The New Times

Published Research

• A Retreat From Human Rights? A Reflection on Sex Work’s Place in Contemporary HIV Prevention

  In this Commentary, we reflect on sex work’s place in the broader field of the biomedicalization of responses to HIV. The analysis is based on literature reviews and our research trajectories, including preliminary results from a qualitative study on the implementation of PrEP in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We argue that sex workers occupy an ambiguous and less visible role in current AIDS policies, and that such policies are increasingly characterised by their prioritisation of biomedical approaches over structural factors. These shifts should be understood as part of a broader, global hegemony of clinical responses to HIV prevention and the continuation of a neoliberal discourse around human rights, without adequate investment in the material conditions necessary to guarantee these rights.

  March 19, 2021

  PrEP

  Global Public Health

• The AMP Trials — A Glass Half Full

  Induction of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) is considered the holy grail for a preventive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine, but four decades into the HIV pandemic, this goal has still not been achieved. Success will probably require multiple sequential immunogens to guide the affinity maturation needed for the induction of antibodies that can target well-concealed neutralization epitopes on the heavily glycosylated, highly variable HIV envelope protein—a formidable task.

  March 18, 2021

  Antibody Related Research

  NEJM

• Two Randomized Trials of Neutralizing Antibodies to Prevent HIV-1 Acquisition

  VRC01 did not prevent overall HIV-1 acquisition more effectively than placebo, but analyses of VRC01-sensitive HIV-1 isolates provided proof-of-concept that bNAb prophylaxis can be effective.

  March 17, 2021

  Antibody Related Research

  NEJM

• HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Use and Persistence among Black Ciswomen: "Women Need to Protect Themselves, Period"

  While persistence among Black ciswomen was low, patients were often making decisions based on perceived HIV risk. We identified real-world barriers to address in future interventions.

  March 17, 2021

  PrEP

  Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

• Effector Function Does Not Contribute to Protection From Virus Challenge by a Highly Potent HIV Broadly Neutralizing Antibody in Nonhuman Primates

  For HIV-passive antibody prophylaxis, these results, together with existing literature, emphasize the importance of neutralization potency for clinical antibodies, with effector function requiring evaluation for individual antibodies.

  March 17, 2021

  Antibody Related Research

  Science Translational Medicine

• COVID-19: A Call for Global Vaccine Equity

  One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, after over 100 million cases and 2.5 million deaths globally, we could lift the strain on our communities, health systems, and economies by prioritizing truly global immunity to help control the pandemic. Instead, inequity in global access to COVID-19 vaccines is causing needless deaths, and prolonging the pandemic and viral transmission that fosters variants which undermine vaccine efficacy.

  March 17, 2021

  General

  BMJ

• Progress Toward HIV Elimination Goals: Trends In and Projections of Annual HIV Testing and Condom Use in Africa

  We observed limited progress on annual HIV testing and condom use at last higher-risk sex in Africa, and little prospect of reaching global targets for HIV/AIDS elimination. Although some funding agencies are considering withdrawal from supporting Africa, more attention to funding and expanding testing and treatment are needed in this region.

  March 16, 2021

  Male and Female Condoms

  AIDS

• Estimating HIV Transmissions in a Large US Clinic-Based Sample: Effects of Time and Syndemic Conditions

  Estimated HIV transmissions among PLWH receiving care in well‐resourced US clinical settings varied by HIV sexual risk group and decreased with time in care, highlighting the importance of TasP efforts. Syndemic conditions remained a significant predictor of estimated HIV transmissions notwithstanding the effects of HIV sexual risk group and time in care.

  March 16, 2021

  Treatment

  JIAS

• Beyond Recruitment: Good Participatory Practice Enhances the Impact of Research in a Pandemic

  In a health emergency, clear, two-way communication between researchers and a broad spectrum of stakeholders is essential to establishing trust—a prerequisite for meaningful uptake of new treatments and vaccines.

  March 15, 2021

  General

  Nature Medicine

• Innate Immune Signatures to a Partially-Efficacious HIV Vaccine Predict Correlates of HIV-1 Infection Risk

  These are the first-reported early immune biomarkers of vaccine-induced responses associated with HIV-1 acquisition risk in humans and suggest hypotheses to improve HIV-1 vaccine regimens.

  March 15, 2021

  HIV Vaccine

  PLOS Pathogens

• A Randomized Trial of a Brief Behavioral Intervention for PrEP Uptake Among Men Who Have Sex With Men at Increased Risk for HIV Infection

  A brief behavioral intervention focused on the initial steps in the PrEP care cascade demonstrated preliminary efficacy in promoting uptake among MSM who are behaviorally at risk for HIV.

  March 15, 2021

  PrEP

  JAIDS

• Acceptability of the Dapivirine Vaginal Ring for HIV-1 Prevention and Association with Adherence in a Phase III Trial

  DVR acceptability was overall high yet varied by country. Addressing perceived ring interference with sex, menses, or problematic changes to the vaginal environment in future interventions could help improve adherence, as could embracing sex-positive messaging related to ring use and increased pleasure.

  March 13, 2021

  Microbicides

  AIDS and Behavior

• Population Impact and Efficiency of Improvements to HIV PrEP Under Conditions of High ART Coverage among San Francisco Men Who Have Sex with Men

  Improving both PrEP and ART coverage would have a synergistic impact on HIV prevention even in a high baseline coverage city like San Francisco. Efforts should focus on narrowing the implementation gaps to achieve higher levels of PrEP retention and ART sustained viral suppression.

  March 12, 2021

  PrEP, Treatment

  medRxiv

• Cost and Cost-Effectiveness of a Universal HIV Testing and Treatment Intervention in Zambia and South Africa: Evidence and Projections From the HPTN 071 (PopART) Trial

  Combination prevention with universal home-based testing can be delivered at low annual cost per person but accumulates to a considerable amount when scaled for a growing population. Combination prevention including UTT is cost-effective at thresholds greater than $800 per DALY averted and can be an efficient strategy to reduce HIV incidence in high-prevalence settings.

  March 12, 2021

  Treatment

  Lancet Global Health

• Individual, Social and Structural Factors Influencing PrEP Uptake Among Cisgender Women: A Theory-Informed Elicitation Study

  Awareness and knowledge of PrEP as a biobehavioral HIV prevention method is limited for this sample. Through conventional content analysis we identified interpersonal and structural barriers to PrEP uptake including lack of partner support, transportation, mental health challenges, and challenges in accessing PrEP care. Potential solutions to structural barriers were enumerated along with implications for future intervention work and public health programming.

  March 9, 2021

  PrEP

  AIDS Care

• “PrEP Just Isn’t My Priority”: Adherence Challenges Among Women Who Inject Drugs Participating in a Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Demonstration Project in Philadelphia, PA USA

  In sum, women who inject drugs (WWID) faced challenges to PrEP adherence that correspond to all of the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations (BMVP) domains. To optimize PrEP for WWID, multi-level programs are needed that address the determinants that both increase HIV susceptibility and undermine adherence.

  March 4, 2021

  PrEP

  Social Science & Medicine

• Differential Elevation of Inflammation and CD4+ T Cell Activation in Kenyan Female Sex Workers and Non-Sex Workers Using Depot-Medroxyprogesterone Acetate

  DMPA increased inflammation and expression of activation markers on potential HIV target cells in non-sex workers. These data show that DMPA is a strong immune modulator and its use counteracts the decreased immune activation associated with sex work. These findings suggest that inflammation and increased HIV target cells in blood and at the genital tract may be mechanisms by which DMPA increases susceptibility to HIV.

  February 23, 2021

  Hormonal Contraceptives and HIV

  Frontiers in Immunology

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