24 SEPTEMBER 2021 VOLUME 23 ISSUE 38

West Virginia harm reduction workers are launching a new statewide coalition. “Mountain State Harm Reduction” will provide overdose prevention and HIV-related services to people who use drugs, a move that comes as a new law threatens the existence of the state’s syringe service programs (SSP).

Community mobilisation and ownership were central to the success of a PrEP demonstration project conducted with female sex workers in Mysore, India, a recent qualitative study has found. PrEP was gradually introduced, spearheaded and endorsed by respected community leaders, including those living with HIV. As opposed to a singular focus on the benefits of the biomedical HIV intervention, the community leaders sought to understand how best to initiate and revitalise connections within the community, and to the organisation itself, while recruiting sex workers to participate in the PrEP demonstration project.

United States President Joe Biden is reportedly nominating Dr. John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, to head the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a $7 billion operation. The US government initiative has been without a leader since February. The Cameroonian virologist would be the first person from the African continent to head the program.

Women of trans experience are unlikely to think they could benefit from HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).... But guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) miss a lot of trans women too. The study is just the latest to look at the barriers to and benefits of PrEP for trans women. Previous demonstration projects have found that access to both gender-affirming care and PrEP improves uptake of the prevention pills. Studies also show that PrEP drugs don’t impact feminizing hormone levels.

The “devastating impact” of the government’s foreign aid cuts on the global fight against HIV has been laid bare in a new parliamentary report, which highlights how international programmes have been scrapped, research funding lost and millions of lives endangered.

The COVID-19 pandemic has touched every corner of our world, including our families and communities. Many of us have lost loved ones and had our lives upended in a myriad of ways. Amidst this tragedy, we have witnessed countless acts of compassion, generosity, and courage, reminding us all of our common humanity.

In the early days of the HIV epidemic, it was discovered that birthing parents could pass HIV along to their babies in the womb and during labor. As a result, it was not uncommon for health care providers to instruct women and birthing parents with HIV to terminate their pregnancies and avoid becoming pregnant.

A CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology that has shown promise in clearing HIV from mice is headed into human testing. Excision BioTherapeutics will usher the CRISPR-based therapy EBT-101 into clinical trials after the FDA cleared an investigational new drug application, according to the company’s press release.

Stakeholder engagement with diverse community representatives prior to conducting adolescent HIV prevention research is critical to collectively shaping the research agenda, successfully recruiting and retaining adolescents in HIV clinical trials and identifying practical strategies to ensure high ethical standards during trial implementation.

Systems approaches applied to human and nonhuman primate cohorts revealed that the transcription factor CREB1 (cAMP-responsive element-binding protein 1) may be a key driver of human immunodeficiency virus 1 vaccine-induced immunity.

Large reductions in HIV incidence are achievable with substantial investment, but the Ending the HIV Epidemic goals will be difficult to achieve in most locations. An interactive model that can help policymakers maximize the effect in their local environments is presented.

CHARISMA taught women skills to decide on levels of ring-use disclosure to partners or others; therefore it is difficult to interpret differences in ring disclosure to partners with other sites. Similarly, CHARISMA heightened participants’ awareness of abuse, possibly increasing IPV reports. Testing CHARISMA under fully-powered controlled conditions will improve understanding of its impact on women’s relationships and ability to use female-initiated HIV prevention methods.

Estimates of population-level HIV acquisition risk in sub-Saharan Africa should not be taken directly from per-condomless-coital-act studies to estimate vertical transmission. Changes in sexual behaviour and differences in HIV-serodiscordancy during pregnancy/postpartum reduce the impact of increased risk of HIV acquisition per-condomless-coital-act, this will vary by region.

AGYW with HIV-negative partners initiated PrEP due to known or suspected infidelity. AGYW with partners of unknown HIV status recognized PrEP as a helpful HIV prevention tool, yet worried about partner reactions and prioritized avoiding uncomfortable or unsafe situations over PrEP. Among pregnant AGYW, the responsibility of motherhood and providing a future for one’s family, through staying healthy and remaining HIV-free, was a strong PrEP use motivator. Among AGYW who desired future motherhood, fears that PrEP could negatively impact fertility or reduce contraceptive effectiveness led to declining PrEP. Peers positively influenced PrEP decision-making, especially personally knowing a PrEP user. Strategies are needed to enhance messaging and delivery approaches that are tailored to AGYW, including peer-led strategies.

Race/ethnic disparities were pronounced among MSM, with Latino/Hispanic and White MSM having lower mortality than Black MSM. Females with heterosexual risk born outside the US had lower mortality than US-born women. The improvement in survival post-HAART was most pronounced for White people. Survival among persons diagnosed with HIV in NYC increased significantly since the introduction of HAART.

As new HIV prevention products are introduced, demand for integrated HIV/SRH services is likely to grow. Investing in HIV/SRH integration can help to ensure sustainable, government-led responses to the HIV epidemic, streamline service delivery and improve the health outcomes and lives of AGYW.

F/TAF produced 6.7- to 7.3-fold higher TFV-DP in PBMC vs. F/TDF across adherence levels, supporting increased potency and pharmacologic forgiveness with F/TAF in the PBMC compartment.