Announcing Version 2.0 of the GLAM Toolkit for lube access advocacy in Africa– now in French and English

Today IRMA, in collaboration with amfAR and AVAC, is excited to release a re-designed Version 2.0  of the GLAM Toolkit: Advocacy to improve access to safe, condom-compatible lubricant in Africa. The Toolkit is now available in French in addition to English – making it more useful for Francophone speakers in Africa – and the new design makes it easier for advocates to use.

And it looks great!

The Toolkit provides background on the status of lubricant (lube) access in Africa and suggests potential strategies for civil society and government partners to secure and distribute sustainable supplies of safe, condom-compatible lube. Global Lube Access Mobilisation (GLAM) is a campaign of IRMA’s Project ARM (Africa for Rectal Microbicides) initiative.

They are available on the IRMA blog here where you can also learn more about GLAM and Project ARM. And the Toolkits can be downloaded as PDFs in French and English from the IRMA website.

In April, IRMA, amfAR and AVAC announced three grants to organizations in Liberia, Zambia and Nigeria to campaign for access to safe, condom-compatible lubricants in their communities. Learn more about these grants here.

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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,200 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

 *Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content. -------------------

Three Organisations Receive Support to Improve Lubricant Access in Africa

IRMA*, amfAR*, and AVAC* are delighted to announce that IRMA Nigeria (in partnership with International Center on Advocacy for the Right to Health), Stop AIDS in Liberia (SAIL), and an organisation in Zambia** have been awarded Global Lube Access Mobilisation (GLAM) funding to campaign for access to safe, condom-compatible lubricants in their communities.

Throughout the world, and especially in Africa, safe, condom-compatible lubricant (water- and silicone-based) is inaccessible for most people who engage in anal intercourse.  It is also inaccessible for women who engage in vaginal intercourse.  A number of analyses in various settings indicate that the use of oil-based products is the most common form of lubrication - and is known to significantly reduce condom effectiveness.  Faced with the lack of condom-compatible lubricants, people often resort to such products as body lotion, soap, cooking oil, spit, pre-cum, antibiotic creams, and even motor oil to provide lubrication during anal intercourse. This lack of appropriate lubricant products for people who practice anal and vaginal intercourse is unacceptable, when we know that they can keep condoms from breaking and slipping.

In December 2012, IRMA, amfAR, and AVAC launched "The GLAM Toolkit - Advocacy to improve access to safe, condom-compatible lubricant in Africa, Version 1.0".  The Toolkit is available here and offers tools and ideas for civil society and government partners to secure affordable and sustainable condom-compatible lubricant.  Tools include a fact sheet, case studies, the results of a review of African National and Strategic Plans on HIV/AIDS, and a list of proposed advocacy activities.

After the Toolkit launch, the group released a request for proposals targeted to community advocates and organisations in Africa interested in improving lube access.  Eighteen proposals were submitted from 11 African countries.

IRMA Nigeria, SAIL, and a Zambian organisation received the highest scores in a thorough evaluation process and began their lube access advocacy projects in April.  We wish them the best, and will keep you apprised of their efforts.  It is the hope the other groups will be able to learn from their work, and that one day all Africans who need safe, condom-compatible lubricants have easy, unfettered access to these critical commodities.

In the meantime, download a copy of the GLAM Toolkit to see what activities you can implement now in your own community.  Charting a course now for condom-compatible lube will assist in reducing the spread of HIV and other STIs, as well as pave the way for the eventuality of rectal microbicide access.

Learn more about GLAM here.

*IRMA - International Rectal Microbicide Advocates
*amfAR - The Foundation for AIDS Research
*AVAC - Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention

**At the request of the grantee, the organisation wishes to remain anonymous.

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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.

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Introducing the GLAM Toolkit: Advocacy to improve lubricant access in Africa

Today, IRMA,  in collaboration with amfAR and AVAC, is delighted to officially release Version 1.0 of The GLAM Toolkit: Advocacy to improve access to safe, condom-compatible lubricant in Africa.

The Toolkit provides background on the status of lubricant (lube) access in Africa and strategies for civil society and government partners to secure and distribute sustainable supplies of safe, condom-compatible lube. Global Lube Access Mobilisation (GLAM) is a campaign of IRMA’s Project ARM (Africa for Rectal Microbicides) initiative.

It is also available on the IRMA blog here (where you can also learn more about Project ARM.)

And can be downloaded here as well.

Condom- compatible lube is associated with a decreased risk of condoms breaking or slipping. Simply put, condoms work better with condom-compatible lube, especially during anal intercourse. That said, men, women and transgender individuals - whether they have anal interourse, vaginal intercourse, or both, need and want safe, condom-compatible lube.

However, throughout the world, and particularly in Africa, condom-compatible lubricant is inaccessible for most people. The GLAM Toolkit (Version 1.0) is designed to encourage advocates to engage Ministries of Health, UN agencies, funders, non-governmental organizations, and other partners to make the provision and distribution of safe, condom-compatible lubricant a priority by positioning lubricant as an absolute necessity, along with male and female condoms.

The Toolkit contains six sections including:

·         Background and introduction
·         Lubricant—Basic Facts on Access and Safety
·         Review of African National Strategic Plans on Inclusion of Lubricant
·         Lube Procurement National Case Studies
·         Findings from Survey on Lube Distribution and Access
·         Advocacy Steps for Improving Access to Lubricant

As the Toolkit is a “living” document, it will be updated regularly by IRMA and partners to keep it timely and relevant. Hence, this Version 1.0 will be replaced by updated versions as the work progresses with new information to report. Please share your successes.

And remember, when you hear anyone say the word "condoms" - we say AND LUBE!

PS - While The GLAM Toolkit is focused on Africa and is embedded in our Project ARM initiative, we recognize that lube access is a serious issue all over the world. The ideas in the Toolkit can and should be adapted for other contexts - and we hope you will do that in yours. We also hope to secure resources to expand our lubricant access work beyond Africa. Stay tuned. And Lube!

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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro. *Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.

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Sustainable HIV prevention possibilities present choices, challenges

via Science Speaks, by Antigone Barton

When he looks at what biomedical science can do in the next decade to prevent HIV transmission, Jim Turpin of the National Institutes of Health said, he thinks of the lyrics of a Timbuk3 song: “The future’s so bright I gotta wear shades.”

By, which, actually, he means — don’t get blinded by the light; the search for answers will require focus.
“The challenge is not the lack of options,” he said, “but prioritizing the best options.”

Turpin, program officer and branch chief in the Prevention Sciences Program in the Division of AIDS at NIH”s  National Institute of Allergy and Infection Disease spoke this morning in webinar titled “The HIV Prevention Pipeline: A Future of Possibilities.” The webinar was sponsored by the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA) and AVAC Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention.

After a series of disappointments in the quest for a vaccine or microbicide to prevent HIV transmission, the last two years offered hope, in strategies using antiretroviral medicine to prevent acquiring HIV, organizers point out. But, with a diversity of prevention needs and challenges among women and men worldwide still demanding answers, is that all there is?

Or, as Turpin put it, “Do we currently have what it takes to create a sustainable prevention pipeline?”

Read the rest.


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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.
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The HIV Prevention Pipeline: A Future of Possibilities

via IRMA/AVAC, presented by Jim A. Turpin

Please register for this teleconference.
 
Meeting Description:

In the last two years there has been great progress in ARV-based prevention strategies - both in terms of PrEP and microbicides. Specifically, there has been enormous excitement and promise around two drugs - tenofovir and Truvada. And more recently, studies testing Dapivirine and Maraviroc have gotten underway.

But...  is that all there is?  What is happening in terms of pre-clinical work?

In this teleconference brought to you by IRMA and AVAC, the NIH's Jim Turpin will examine current and emerging prevention candidates and delivery systems beyond pills, gels and rings, giving us a fascinating peek into the HIV prevention pipeline that we don't often hear about, well before large efficacy trials are imagined, even before small Phase I safety studies are in the picture.

Jim will ask the questions on all of our minds: Is a sustainable pipeline of HIV prevention products beyond the current array of candidates possible? What does that look like? And what can advocates do to better engage in early, pre-clinical efforts years before human trials are in the picture?

Join our call to hear his answers - and provide your own.

Click here to convert the time of this call to your time zone.

When you register for the call, you will be provided a list of global toll-free dial in numbers., If you need us to dial you into the call, please let us know your number when you register. We will only dial in individuals who don't have access to toll-free numbers.

Presentation slides will be made available on the IRMA website here at least a day in advance of the call. You may download the slides and follow along that way, or simply log in to the ReadyTalk web interface on the day of the call and watch the slides there.

This call will be recorded. The recording will be made available on the IRMA website within a day or two after the call.

Questions? Email IRMA at rectalmicro@gmail.com - thanks!

Register for this meeting here.



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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.
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Translating clinical efficacy into public health effectiveness

via Citizen News Service, by Bobby Ramakant

At the recently concluded XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012), not only the decibels went up on ending AIDS but also sane voices were heard demanding a well-costed and thought-through strategy on how to end AIDS. One of the strategies that will complement a comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment, care and support plan to end AIDS is preventing HIV transmission. In this context, we need to look beyond the Phase III trials in HIV prevention research so that if the product being tested is proved to be effective, we have the means and well-thought plan to make it available for those people in need, without delay.

The HIV prevention research is certainly going ahead with rectal microbicides phase II efficacy clinical trials (MTN017) about to begin in four countries (US, Thailand, South Africa and Peru), US FDA's approval to use 'Truvada' as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention, vaginal microbicides research and HIV vaccine science progressing ahead, treatment as prevention (TasP) getting a buy-in as never before, among other positive developments that give us hope.

Read the rest.


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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.
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[Project ARM] GLAM Lube Distribution Survey

via Survey Monkey, for [Project ARM] GLAM Lube Distribution Survey

Thank you for taking a few minutes to complete this survey on lubricant distribution in your country.

International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA) has launched a special initiative called "Project ARM - Africa for Rectal Microbicides" to ensure rectal microbicide research and advocacy are on the African map.

The top priority of Project ARM is lube access for people who engage in anal intercourse.

Condoms and safe, condom-compatible lubricant should be used during anal intercourse to provide protection against HIV and other STDs. Safe, condom-compatible lubricants are also used by many women who desire extra lubrication during vaginal intercourse. Condoms used without proper lubricant can break.

With partners amfAR and AVAC, Project ARM has developed the GLAM campaign (Global Lube Access Mobilisation) in an effort to improve access to safe, condom-compatible lubes for individuals in Africa and other countries where lube access is poor.

Your answers to these questions will inform a "tool kit" that is being developed to support lube access advocacy and implementation.

Access the survey here.


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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.
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Lubes a Key Priority in Africa

[Citizen News Service and IRMA are collaborating to amplify rectal microbicide research and advocacy, as well as IRMA-led initiatives, throughout AIDS 2012.]

via Citizen News Service, by Chief K Masimba Biriwasha

Condom-compatible lubes are a rarity in Africa forcing transgender women, gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) and heterosexual populations that engage in anal sex to utilize alternative methods that potentially exposes them to a range of sexually transmitted infections including HIV, the virus which causes AIDS. Following a meeting of Africa for Rectal Microbicides (Project ARM) held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in December 2011, participants decided to create the Global Lube Access Mobilization (GLAM) initiative to support increased access and availability of condom-compatible lubes throughout the world, beginning with a focus on Africa, employing the tagline "And Lube!"

This tag-line "And Lube!" reminds people to distribute condoms 'and [condom compatible] lube' to make anal sex safer and more comfortable. At the two-day meet, held at the International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA), initiated by the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA) in partnership with AVAC - Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, participants acknowledge lubricants, or "lube" that can be used with condoms are a key priority for safer anal sex.

"There is a need for lube which is condom safe in many parts of Africa - when you're talking about HIV prevention among men who have sex with men (MSM), it's about condoms and lube," said Kent Klindera, Director, MSM Initiative at amfAR, in an exclusive interview with Citizen News Service.

Read the rest.


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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.
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Meet Carol - a Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate

Check out this interesting mini-bio of Carol Odada, the latest in IRMA's "Meet a Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate" series on the IRMA website here.  Carol is one of six new bios just posted yesterday, including individuals from Thailand, Kenya and the US.  Each will be featured on the blog, and you can read all of them here right now.



Carol Odada
Nairobi, Kenya

"I stand out strongly as a women's rights champion, and am quite steadfast on the human need for rectal microbicides."

Carol received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Eastern Africa. Since graduating, she has focused on social work, and has helped to develop and implement care and support programs for people living with HIV. She currently works in biomedical HIV prevention research advocacy, and enjoys advocating for women's rights and sexual health rights.

Carol became involved with IRMA when the topic of rectal microbicides was still a relatively new in Kenya. In December of 2011, Carol was one of a number of African leaders who joined IRMA for a two-day strategy meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that took place in advance of the 16th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa. The meeting officially launched IRMA's Project ARM - Africa for Rectal Microbicides initiative. IRMA recently released a report from that meeting called "On The Map: Ensuring Africa's Place in Rectal Microbicide Research and Advocacy" recommending a set of priority actions for IRMA and allies to better engage Africans across the continent in rectal microbicide activities. Carol played a very important role in helping define those strategies. Learn more about Project ARM, and read the report, here.

She understands that different prevention strategies need to be developed to provide sexual health to the world's population and that rectal microbicides will provide a new tool for women and men regardless of sexual orientation. Specifically, she educates women, young and old, about anal sex.

Currently, Carol is working on a collaboration between AVAC and ATHENA Network called WHiPT - Women's HIV Prevention Tracking Project.

She will soon be a featured speaker in the satellite session "Rectal Microbicides: Making HIV Prevention Gel" at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC with other members of IRMA and allies. The session is taking place in the afternoon on Sunday, July 22, 2012 - more info on this event can be found here.

Carol encourages IRMA to keep pushing forward, and believes that a day will come when all of the group's collective work and efforts are fully appreciated.

HIV has taught her to value every person and every opinion. And her five-year-old daughter gives her a reason to wake up and work hard every day. Because of her daughter's influence, she strives to be a better person and tries to give back to the community as much as she can.

Thank you, Carol, for all that you do!


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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.
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AIDS 2012 Satellite: Rectal Microbicides - Making HIV Prevention Gel - Sunday, July 22

Please join IRMA and friends for this rectally riveting satellite session at AIDS 2012 - scheduled for Sunday, July 22 from 3:45 - 5:45pm in Mini Room 8 in the Convention Center - before you are totally burnt out from too much conference! Get the latest news on rectal microbicides - from the scientific and advocacy fronts - and be one of the first on your block to view the "Rectal Revolution is Here" video...

More info in the postcard below.

Click to enlarge

The Bottom Line is this - you don't want to miss it. We hope to see you there.

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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.

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Meet Virginia - A Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate

Check out this interesting mini-bio of Virginia Zalazar, the latest in IRMA's "Meet a Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate" series on the IRMA website here.  Virginia is one of six new bios just posted a few days ago, including individuals from Kenya, Thailand, the UK, India and the US.  Each will be featured on the blog, and you can read all of them here right now.


Virginia Zalazar
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Virginia is a psychologist and social researcher at Fundación Huésped, an NGO that works in response to HIV/AIDS, both as an infectious disease and as a social challenge. Since 2007, she has been performing research studies focusing on microbicide acceptability with women, gay men, and transgender populations.

Virginia also coordinates workshops for serodiscordant couples, and conducts pre and post-HIV test counseling at a public hospital in Buenos Aires.

In her spare time, Virginia enjoys reading novels and science fiction books, travelling, watching movies, listening to music, and spending time with her family and friends.

Virginia first got involved with IRMA at the 2009 IAS Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. She believes that rectal microbicides are important, as well as vaginal and other biomedical prevention methods, because sexual practices require different and suitable options for each individual separately. Virginia hopes that in the near future, drugstores, healthcare centers or hospitals will carry a variety of products that will promote sexual health and sexual pleasure.

Virginia advises IRMA to continue consolidating collaborative work, strengthening international relationships, engaging additional partners, and identifying existing and future research opportunities for the region.

Currently, Virginia is looking for funding to conduct a study focusing on the public health impact of PrEP, and the accessibility of treatment among transgender sex workers in Northern Provinces of Argentina.

Virginia was introduced to a number of partners connected with IRMA-ALC (IRMA's South American chapter based at Epicentro in Lima, Peru) at the Microbicides 2012 conference in April. Less than a month later, she participated in a two-day strategic meeting led by IRMA-ALC and AVAC in Lima - with colleagues from Peru and Paraguay - to plan for expanded and improved advocacy around rectal microbicides, PrEP, sexual health and other LGBT issues. Click here for photos (on the IRMA ALC Facebook page) from the meeting. She is very excited about the possibilities this growing initiative will bring to the future of rectal microbicides and PrEP in the Latin American region.

Virginia has been influenced by her family, friends, colleagues, patients and activists. Her appreciation extends out to everyone who is passionate about what they do, and working towards a better future.

Thank you, Virginia, for all that you do!

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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.
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Meet Rebekah - A Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate

Check out this interesting mini-bio of Rebekah Webb, the latest in IRMA's "Meet a Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate" series on the IRMA website here.  Rebekah is one of six new bios just posted a few days ago, including individuals from Kenya, Thailand, the US, and Argentina.  Each will be featured on the blog, and you can read all of them here right now.




Rebekah Webb
North Devon, United Kingdom

"Even if we had a vaccine, or a microbicide, or if treatment was universal, I think there would still be a large group of people that would find a rectal microbicide incredibly useful and protective in their circumstances."

Rebekah is an advocate, fundraiser, and a policy researcher on HIV and reproductive health issues. She is currently working closely with AVAC to launch a new project building the capacity of European advocacy for new prevention options called PxROAR (Prevention Options, Outreach, Advocacy and Representation) Europe. PxROAR Europe had their orientation meeting in London in June 2012vand she is very excited about the work that advocates will be doing over the coming year to raise awareness and commitment to European funding and implementation of new HIV Strategies.

Rebekah's considers herself lucky to have worked with some incredible advocates including her mentors Lori Heise and Anna Forbes. However, her biggest influence came from her close friend Greg's personal experience of being diagnosed with HIV in 1996. She remembers helping him put all of his 60 or so pills into a huge pill box according to the right time and day. This inspired her want to work for improved HIV treatment and prevention.

She first got involved with IRMA while she was working at the Global Campaign for Microbicides when IRMA was founded (2005.) She has seen it grow from a handful of people to a massive global phenomenon. She considers rectal microbicides important among new HIV prevention technologies because everyone needs more options to protect themselves against HIV and other STIs. Not everyone can use or negotiate condoms. People like using lubricants and she believes that it would be amazing if they protected you at the same time, similar to the way we use hand gel now.

Rebekah says that IRMA is great at what it does and the listserv is a fantastic resource for anyone working in HIV, as it covers a lot more than just rectal microbicides. She praises the fact that it's a great place where the community can come to debate, challenge, and learn from one another. (Click here if you are interested in joining IRMA's listserv.)

Thanks Rebekah for all that you do!


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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.
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And in the Beginning, There Were Rectal Microbicides: An Update on the CHARM Program

Please Register for this Teleconference!

 Please join IRMA, AVAC and Ian McGowan, co-principal investigator of the Microbicide Trials Network and Principal Investigator of CHARM (the Combination HIV Antiretroviral Rectal Microbicide Program) for a thoroughly CHARMing teleconference update on what is happening with this innovative program.

Funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in 2009, CHARM is an $11 million, five year, multicenter grant intended to advance candidate rectal microbicides from discovery into early clinical development. Rather than simply testing existing vaginal formulations of microbicides, CHARM seeks to develop rectal-specific products from the beginning.

Find out the latest on CHARM, including the development of a purely rectal formulation of tenofovir gel, and other scientific activities underway and planned.

CHARMed, for sure!

Click here to determine the time of the call in your location.
Slides will be made available on the IRMA website here , for download in advance of the teleconference, and via the ReadyTalk web interface on the day of the call. Audio for the call will be available via phone only.

Click here to Register! If you need an operator to dial you in, please let us know at rectalmicro@gmail.com.

We look forward to your participation in this global teleconference!


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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

 *Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.

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AVAC Presents A Research Literacy Database as a Resource for HIV Prevention

AVAC is pleased today to launch the Research Literacy Database at www.avac.org/researchliteracy, an important new resource for the biomedical HIV prevention field.

The Research Literacy Database is the first central portal for educational resources on biomedical HIV prevention including:

• Global and country-specific materials;

• Resources specific to given prevention interventions including AIDS vaccines, ARV-based prevention and voluntary medical male circumcision; and

• General information on clinical trials and the research process.

The tools featured in the database were developed by a range of stakeholders worldwide to meet specific needs. We will continue to expand the database and encourage our users to share their favorite materials on an ongoing basis. The database focuses on materials that won’t necessarily change substantially over time; for trial updates, timelines, recent results and their implications and current issues, please see other areas of the AVAC website.

Using an innovative design, the database allows users to search for what they need based on key criteria. For example, a journalist in South Africa who wants to learn more about the basics of microbicide research can use the database to find relevant fact sheets, e-learning courses and other helpful tools. Research organization staff members who need tools for training and outreach to wider audiences can use the database to get a tailored toolkit according to location, audience and specific content.

We all know that the science behind HIV prevention research is challenging. AVAC believes that building
basic research literacy among key stakeholders is fundamental to effective advocacy, to moving research forward as quickly and ethically as possible, and ultimately to getting new prevention options to people who need them. Whether you are a researcher, advocate, journalist, policy maker or someone interested in learning more about clinical trials and new ways to prevent HIV, we hope this database will make learning and outreach efforts easier and more effective.

The database is an iterative tool, and will be constantly updated with new materials and other user input. We need your help in ensuring that useful materials are available and used! Please contact us at researchliteracy@avac.org with any and all feedback you have as you use the database—and we are especially keen to receive additional relevant resources to be shared with the field.



[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

The Shamless Plug!

REGISTER FOR THIS CALL!

Raise your hand if you've ever felt uncomfortable talking about anal sex and anal health. Have you noticed that people sometimes tend to cringe from embarrassment when the word "rectal" is uttered? Or that they may laugh a little too much, or try to change the subject too quickly?

If you can identify with any of that - it means you're human - welcome to the club! Dealing with other people's reluctance to talk about anal sex, including our own reluctance, is common. But if we're going to be effective rectal microbicide advocates, let alone Rectal Rock Stars, we must get over our anal issues, and we must help others do the same. We must be absolutely shameless!

Enter Vanessa Marquez, a clinician at Fenway Community Health who has worked on several rectal microbicide trials, and uses a number of strategies to rectally disarm her patients and others to great effect. She will share her Shameless Plugs on this IRMA/AVAC teleconference - please join us for a really fun conversation.

You may follow along with Vanessa's slides on the ReadyTalk web interface, or you may download her presentation in advance from the IRMA website here: http://rectalmicrobicides.org/teleconf.php. They will be available no later than April 3.

The call is scheduled for 11am Eastern. Please convert the time for your location by following this link: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

The call will be recorded, and will be posted on the IRMA website after its completion here: http://rectalmicrobicides.org/teleconf.php.
 
 
 
[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Join IRMA and Partners for Dynamic Microbicides 2012 Advocates’ Pre-conference!

Please join us for this dynamic pre-conference….


Advocacy in a New Prevention Landscape:

BUILDING OUR KNOWLEDGE AND CAPACITY FOR EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY
AROUND HIV PREVENTION RESEARCH AND IMPLEMENTATION


Timing: Sunday 15 April 2012, 0830 to 1600
Venue: Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney

 

M2012 offers new opportunities and challenges to advocates across the world involved and/or interested in advocacy around microbicides and other HIV prevention research and rollout. We have new tools to consider in HIV prevention with the exciting results from PrEP and treatment as prevention trials - and yet confusing results from the early termination of the FEM-PrEP trial and the microbicide gel and tenofovir tablet arms of the VOICE study. What does this mean for communities and how does it affect the work we do as advocates?

The African Microbicides Advocacy Group, AVAC, the Global Campaign for Microbicides, IRMA (International Rectal Microbicides Advocates), the New HIV Vaccine & Microbicide Advocacy Society and local Australian partners ACON and AFAO will hold a day-long pre-conference workshop on Sunday, April 15. The M2012 Advocates' Pre-Conference Workshop will begin at 08:30 and conclude by 16:00, ensuring participants have ample time to get to the M2012 opening ceremony. The workshop will be held at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, and lunch will be provided.


The goal of the workshop is to equip new and experienced advocates, community representatives, trial staff and others with the tools needed to fully participate in the M2012 Conference by:

• Providing an overview of the field to contextualize the themes and issues presented at M2012;

• Connecting research and advocacy priorities and exploring common goals;

• Building capacity of advocates and trial staff to better engage with emerging issues in the field.


The pre-conference workshop will feature seasoned advocates and researchers from the HIV prevention research field who will provide participants with updates and previews to topics to be presented at the conference. An array of thematic discussion and skills-building sessions will be conducted including an update on key issues in the field, influencing relevant country policies and processes, prevention research literacy and ethics, and training on advocacy and campaign building.


Registration for this workshop is free for all interested participants but has limited space so registration will be offered on first-come first-served basis.


Registrations will be accepted through 23 March 2012 or until we have reached capacity.


To register – please fill this registration form at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/39SPS5P. If you have any questions or having problems with the registration form, please write to M2012AdvocatesPrecon@gmail.com.


Organizers: AMAG, AVAC, GCM, IRMA and NHVMAS with Australian Partners ACON and AFAO


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Open Letter to FDA Urging Immediate PrEP Review

via AIDS Foundation of Chicago

This is an open letter to the Food and Drug Administration, urging the priority review of the drug Truvada for use in PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis). The AIDS Foundation of Chicago and 25 other organizations signed this letter to counter the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's protest of the FDA regarding this review. To read the PDF of the letter, with footnotes, click here.

Dear Commissioner Hamburg:

We write as a coalition of 25 leading HIV/AIDS and health organizations to request that FDA grant priority review of a supplemental New Drug Application1 (sNDA) for the approval of emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (Truvada®) fixed dose combination for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of HIV infection among adults as part of a comprehensive prevention package including risk reduction counseling and condoms.

The rigorous priority review process applicable to efficacy supplements is the best means to promote public health by recognizing the potential of PrEP to offer a major advance in HIV prevention and deserving this priority “where no adequate alternate therapy exists or as a significant improvement compared to marketed products … including nondrug products or
therapies.”

Our organizations understand that granting priority review is not tantamount to a final approval. Nevertheless, we are hopeful that the full dossier of data on emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate fixed dose combination of PrEP from multiple clinical trials in different populations can lead to a responsible regulatory and marketing plan that allows safe use in the populations that may benefit from this innovative development.

The need for significantly improved safe and effective HIV prevention tools is clear. Despite many years of efforts to reduce HIV incidence using available counseling methods, some 50,000 new infections occur annually. Disparities persist so that incidence continues to concentrate among African Americans and Latinos, men who have sex with men (including transgender individuals), and the poor. These grim and stubborn facts led to the creation of the White House-directed National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States (NHAS), which lists enhanced prevention efforts as a primary objective. If emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate for PrEP satisfies FDA approval criteria, health programs and individuals will have improved choices to address a domestic priority and save lives.

The PrEP sNDA for Truvada® meets criteria set out in FDA’s Manual of Policies and Procedures for priority review. As organizations committed to ending the AIDS epidemic, we appreciate how the history of FDA’s regulatory tools for fast track approval or for accelerated and priority review introduced the current suite of HIV therapeutic drugs to treat active infection. In the present case, there is a clear unmet need for new effective methods for preventing HIV infection, a need that is as urgent today as was the need for HIV therapeutics over the past two and more decades.

HIV advocacy organizations made it possible to launch such regulatory procedures for the benefit of all patient disease groups when those tools were not yet available. We are not aware of any legitimate reason to thwart the faster introduction of medicines FDA determines to be safe and effective to stop HIV, nor should anyone turn back the pages of history and act against the interests of patients to do so now. Unfortunately, recent actions by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation regarding PrEP would introduce unwarranted roadblocks in the FDA process of making responsible decisions about potentially useful medicines and public health. Those actions also foster misunderstandings of the careful balancing of risk and benefits that informs a mature marketing permission based on all available data. Those actions would also set an unhelpful precedent as PrEP research evolves in the future and the FDA is asked to review non-tenofovir-based regimens (e.g. maraviroc), microbicide gels, and intermittent PrEP. We urge that FDA continue its public health promotion goals now in the service of the critical need to prevent, as well as treat, HIV and grant this priority review.

We would be happy to discuss the priority review process as applied to HIV prevention further at your convenience. Mitchell Warren, Executive Director of AVAC, acts as the contact person for the organizations signing this letter and can be contacted at 1-212-796-6423 and mitchell@avac.org.

Yours sincerely,

AIDS Foundation of Chicago
AIDS Legal Referral Panel
AIDS Resource Center Ohio
AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta
AIDS United
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS
Research
Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center
AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention
Black AIDS Institute
Caracole, Inc.
Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus
Fenway Health
HIV Prevention Justice Alliance
International Rectal Microbicide Advocates
Justice Resource Institute
LA Gay and Lesbian Center
National Alliance of State and Territorial
AIDS Directors
National Black Gay Men's Advocacy
Coalition
National Latino AIDS Action Network
National Minority AIDS Council
Ohio AIDS Coalition
Project Inform
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
SisterLove, Inc.
Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown HIV/AIDS Ministry
Us Helping Us







Read the PDF of the letter (with footnotes) here.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

"The End?" AVAC's 2011 Science-Based Agenda to End the Epidemic

via AVAC

This AVAC report presents a three-part agenda for ending the AIDS epidemic. It is intended as a vision and a challenge to the field, and a first step in holding all of us—civil society, researchers, governments, and funders—accountable for progress.

Each of the major priorities below demands action now—but the dividends will come in the short, medium, and long terms.

1. DELIVER today’s proven strategies at scale for immediate impact
•Model combination prevention programs to identify the parameters that are essential for scale-up to have a major impact on infections

•Mobilize demand for new tools among people who could benefit, through social marketing and other efforts

•Reprogram existing resources when evidence shows they could be used to greater effect

•Fund evidence-based scale-up today—and save money in the future—through substantial increases in commitments from U.S., European and developing country funders.

2. DEMONSTRATE and roll out newly available HIV prevention tools, including PrEP and microbicides, for even greater impact in 5 to 10 years

•Plan for the introduction of PrEP and microbicides in the next several years, and for follow-on research needed to address questions that remain unresolved in trials to date

•Pilot these interventions through demonstration projects that help define their optimal use and real-world impact

•Prioritize the use of these interventions in populations, and in combinations, where the potential benefits are greatest

3. DEVELOP long-term solutions—including an effective vaccine and a cure—that will enable us to close the door on AIDS

•Sustain funding for research, to capitalize on recent scientific insights that have begun to revitalize the search for a vaccine, while pursuing new leads that may eventually result in a functional cure for HIV infection.

Read the full report here.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Announcing the 2012 Omololu Falobi Award for Excellence in HIV Prevention Research Community Advocacy

Five years ago on October 5 2006, we lost our brother and colleague Omololu Falobi. Those who knew Omololu professionally will remember him, among many other things - as a talented journalist on HIV, as an activist for social justice, as an advocate for prevention research and as a son of Africa in his zeal to ensure Africans were taking ownership of their own HIV care and prevention.

Omololu founded the Journalists Against AIDS in Nigeria (JAAIDS), was an instrumental pioneer member of the Nigerian Treatment Access Movement (TAM), and co-founded the New HIV Vaccine & Microbicide Advocacy Society (NHMAS). He was tragically killed in 2006 in Lagos, Nigeria.

In 2008, in honour of Omololu’s memory and commitment to the field, The Omololu Falobi Award for Excellence in HIV Prevention Research Community Advocacy was established by the African Microbicides Advocacy Group (AMAG) and partners. The Award is presented to an individual nominated by their peers at the biennial International Microbicides Conferences. Lori Heise (USA) and Aylur Srikrishnan (India) were the 2008 recipients and Charles Shagi (Tanzania) the recipient in 2010.

In continuation of this tradition and to mark the fifth anniversary of Omololu’s death, we proudly announce the call for nominations of The Omololu Falobi Award for Excellence in HIV Prevention Research Community Advocacy 2012 to be awarded to a community advocate in recognition of their contribution to the HIV prevention research field through community advocacy.

The 2012 Award Planning Committee includes representatives from the African AIDS Vaccine Program (AAVP), AMAG, AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, the Global Campaign for Microbicides (GCM), International Rectal Microbicides Advocates (IRMA), JAAIDS, NHVMAS and TAM, with acknowledgment from the Omololu Falobi Foundation.

Nominations will be reviewed by a committee of stakeholders in the prevention research field and the selected individual will then be recognized and awarded at the Closing Ceremony of the International Microbicides 2012 Conference in Sydney, Australia in April 2012. We are pleased to work with the Microbicides 2012 Conference Planning Committee to present the Award next year.
A call for nominations and information on the selection process will be circulated later this month.

On behalf of the planning committee:
AAVP, AMAG, AVAC, GCM, IRMA, JAAIDS, NHVMAS, TAM

For more information:
Website: http://www.avac.org/ht/d/sp/i/4345/pid/4345
Email: amag_info@yahoo.com


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Whatever Happened to the AIDS Vaccine?

via the Huffington Post, by Michael Warren

"Now is exactly the time to maintain commitment. Now is exactly the time to hold a steady course in funding for basic science, clinical trials and product development. It's good business sense: Our investments are paying off -- and the dividend, in the form of an effective vaccine, would have value beyond our wildest dreams."

Recent news about HIV/AIDS has focused on the good -- promising trial results that prove the antiretroviral (ARV) drugs used to treat HIV can also prevent HIV infections -- and the bad -- retreats in donor commitment that imperil the substantial gains that have been made in treating global AIDS, at the precise moment that treatment has been recognized as a powerful prevention strategy. In discussions about whether AIDS treatment can be used to end the AIDS epidemic, scant attention is paid to the search for an AIDS vaccine.

When AIDS vaccines do get mentioned, it is often in the context of questions about whether a vaccine is still needed, or whether the search for an AIDS vaccine is affordable in today's economic climate.

Researchers and advocates who gathered Sept. 12-15 in Bangkok, Thailand, for the AIDS Vaccine 2011 conference have clear answers: Yes, we still need a vaccine, and yes, we need to continue to invest in AIDS vaccine research.

Read the rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]