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.

-------------------
*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.

-------------------

Meet Olumide Makanjuola: Our Newest Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate!

“Rectal microbicides are a very important new prevention technology. They bring attention to anal intercourse and provide protection for those who practice it, regardless of their sexual identities.”

Olumide is an IRMA advocate from Lagos, Nigeria. He works at TIERs (The Initiative for Equal Rights) for the rights of LGBT people and sexual health rights. He loves his job and the inspiring people he works with.

Olumide first became involved with IRMA when he visited the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) for a week and worked with the IRMA crew (IRMA is housed at AFC.). He joined the IRMA listserv and has since been following the conversations and information shared by members every day. At first he was not sure how this would be helpful to the people he serves in Nigeria, but now he says he sees how valuable rectal mircobicides can be for the gay/MSM community and others who practice anal intercourse.

Olumide was excited to participate in the Project ARM - Africa for Rectal Microbicides meeting held in Addis Ababa this past December, in conjunction with ICASA, which brought together so much expertise and many different community perspectives to help design a road map for rectal microbicides in Africa. He says that it is a long road ahead and implementation of the agenda will be difficult, but he is confident and knows Project ARM’s goals are “surely achievable.”

Throughout his career as an advocate he has faced much stigma and discrimination; anyone standing up for the MSM or LGBT communities in Nigeria does. Sometimes in Nigeria, people think IRMA is promoting homosexuality. Olumide has to fight this stigma as well.

His advice for IRMA is to continue promoting and educating people about rectal microbicides in Africa at the grassroots level, as the Project ARM meeting concluded.

Thanks Olumide, for all that you do!


[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.]

Gratitude, Love, and XOXO from IRMA

Dearest IRMA members -

Just a quick note to say THANK YOU for everything you have done this year to advance the research and development of safe, effective, acceptable, and accessible rectal microbicides for the human beings who need them.

I think IRMA has had a banner year - and the reason it was so incredible is YOU.

Here are some highlights. Feel free to chime in with your own - this list is by no means exhaustive of all the fabulous things IRMA, and the field as a whole, have been up to...

- With thanks to AVAC, in 2011 IRMA greatly expanded our advocacy footprint in South America with a strengthened IRMA-ALC (America Latina y el Caribe). Based at the gay men's health organization Epicentro in Lima, Peru, IRMA ALC has been invigorating rectal microbicide and PrEP advocacy throughout the region, and is now perfectly poised to engage with the upcoming Phase II rectal microbicide trial MTN 017 that will include a site in Lima.  Pictured above is Tia IRMA (Auntie IRMA) - a character created by IRMA-ALC to help share information on rectal microbicides, anal sex, lubricants, etc  - and make it fun/funny :)

- In 2011, IRMA secured funding from MAC AIDS Foundation, the Microbicide Trials Network, and the Population Council to develop a short, fun video about rectal microbicide science and clinical trial involvement. We actually JUST HIRED a production company (based in Cape Town, South Africa), and will begin work on the project in earnest as soon as the clock switches to 2012. The video will be something that all our advocates can use, and will be especially helpful for folks in cities where advanced rectal microbicide trials are planned as the video will be designed to support site recruitment activities. We plan to have this baby ready to go by the time MTN 017 launches in mid-year.

- IRMA successfully launched a new initiative called Project ARM - Africa for Rectal Microbicides. With support from the National Institutes of Health Office of AIDS Research, the New Venture Fund, and AVAC - we held a fantastic kick-off meeting with 40 individuals in Addis Ababa in early December, and came up with a whole set of advocacy and scientific activities designed to fully engage Africa in rectal microbicide research and advocacy. A report from the meeting - a road map of sorts - will be released at Microbicides 2012. But not content to wait, the group that met in Addis is already busy getting started on Project ARM goals and objectives - and will be reaching out to our broader IRMA membership in 2012 to help move us all forward.

None of this would have happened without our amazing membership - so much love and gratitude to you all. You make me so happy and proud :)

I am excited to say that I am headed to Thailand tomorrow. IRMA is helping conduct civil society consultations in Bangkok and Chiang Mai in conjunction with MTN 017 - similar to the ones that were held in Cape Town and Pittsburgh already (and are being planned for Boston and Lima.) This will be a great opportunity for IRMA to expand it's membership in Thailand. And I must say, my slides that have been translated into the Thai language look STUNNING - the Thai script is so lovely.

Actually, the announcement of MTN 017 was another HUGE highlight in 2011. It will be the field's very first Phase II rectal microbicide trial - how cool is that?! We will be sure to tell you more about it once the protocol is finalized in the new year - including a global teleconference which will explain all the details.

If you have other highlights to share regarding our field - please feel free.

In the meantime, best wishes to each of you, and happy, happy, happy New Year.

Jim Pickett
IRMA Chair


[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.]

Anal Intercourse in Nigeria

via Nigerian Tribune, by Muda Oyeniran

Not less than 12 percent of public secondary school students in Nigeria practise anal sex while 12.1 per cent of university students and 15.2 per cent adolescents in northern Nigeria engage in the act.

Morenike Ukpong, the coordinator of the New Vaccine and Microbicide Advocacy Society, a Lagos-based non-governmental organisation, who disclosed this to the Nigerian Tribune said the role of anal sex in driving the HIV epidemic away from Nigeria could no longer be ignored.

She further said there were evidences to show that about 10 per cent of women and 14 per cent of men in the general populace practised anal sex, adding that the use of condom during this sexual act was low because of the erroneous belief that anal sex was safer than vagina sex.

“Request for anal sex by clients of female sex workers is high with men paying higher to have anal sex for many reasons,” she stated.

According to Ukpong, anal sex is known to be the highest risk form of sexual transmission of HIV infection with approximately 14 times higher risk of HIV transmission when compared to penile-vagina sex.

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.]

Nigeria Stifling Gay Rights

via IRIN Africa

Rights groups in Nigeria fear a same-sex marriage bill being discussed in parliament could boost already prevalent discrimination against homosexuals. The bill goes much further than banning same-sex marriage; it threatens to ban the formation of groups supporting homosexuality, with imprisonment for anyone who “witnesses, abet[s] or aids” same-gender relationships, and could lead to any discussion or activities related to gay rights being banned.

Under a colonial-era law, sodomy is punishable by a 14-year jail sentence; and in the country’s mainly Muslim northern states, where a version of Shar’ia law applies, the penalty is death by stoning, although this has never officially been carried out.

The National Assembly began debating the latest version of the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill in November. Most high-ranking officials have voiced their approval of the bill, signalling it is likely to pass.

Intolerance prevails

Analysts see the bill, which has been shelved twice in five years, as a potential boost to the popularity of a government whose approval ratings have stalled since elections in April this year. Most Nigerians strongly disapprove of homosexuality, with many seeing it as a foreign import at odds with a deeply religious society.

A 2008 survey by non-profit, Nigeria’s Information for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, of 6,000 Nigerians on their attitudes to homosexuality, found that only 1.4 percent of respondents said they felt “tolerant” towards sexual minorities.

A university student in the northern state of Jigawa was killed in 2002 when classmates set upon him after rumours that he was gay.

In September 2008, several national newspapers published the names, addresses and photographs of the pastor and congregation of a church in the port city of Lagos that ministered to sexual minorities. A few days later a mob that included policemen attacked the church. Members of the congregation lost jobs and homes and had to go into hiding; others are still harassed and threatened with physical harm, Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

“Homosexual and lesbian practices are considered offensive to public morality in Nigeria. The… bill is crucial to our national development because it seeks to protect the traditional family, which is the fundamental unit of society, especially in our country,” said the influential newspaper, This Day, in its editorial on 10 November. “It will be difficult to import practices and lifestyles which are alien to our country and the majority of our people.”
Homosexual rights are narrowing across Africa. In Uganda, gay rights activist David Kato was killed in January 2011 after opposing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in 2009.

In Malawi a gay couple was imprisoned for “gross indecency”. The United States and British governments have threatened to cut off aid money to African countries seeking to curb gay rights.

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.]

Meet Michael Ighodaro: Our New Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate!

“I believe there should be other HIV prevention options for gay men all around the world and especially Africa and Nigeria where same sex is taboo, which has made it very difficult for most gay men and MSM to access HIV prevention services.”

Michael Ighodaro is an IRMA advocate from Abuja, Nigeria. He is a social worker and support officer for ICARE who loves football and being on the internet. At ICARE he is a Community Outreach Officer and works mainly providing care and counseling to HIV positive MSM. He is also involved with a new LGBTI organization in the Edo state of Nigeria called Mind Builders Initiative.

He first learned of IRMA at a training and meeting for MSM held by IRMA-Nigeria. He now creates trainings for MSM himself, where he educates others about rectal microbicides. He strongly believes that all African LGBTI need to stand up for IRMA because “we deserve a prevention option against HIV for us too.”

When asked how he combats the stigma associated with standing up for rectal microbicides in Nigeria, he says “It is a cross I have decided to carry, and no matter the stigma and discrimination I will still be an IRMA advocate. I am used to stigma, being an MSM and HIV positive person in a country where they see you as a cursed person because of your sexuality and see HIV as a curse.”

He believes IRMA should conduct more trainings around the world, as well as host a meeting every few years where advocates can meet to share experience, advice and challenges.

Read more Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate bios.



[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.]

2012 International Microbicides Conference Scholarship Opportunity!

via International Microbicides Conference Secretariat

Do you need funding to attend M2012?

The M2012 organisers are pleased to announce that scholarships are available to attend the conference in Sydney, Australia. Scholarships will be offered in four categories that each have distinct criteria:

1. Research
2. Community
3. Government Official/ Public Health Policy
4. Media

Click here to find out how to apply for the scholarship.

For more information please visit the conference website http://www.microbicides2012.org/



[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.]

Rectal Microbicides at the IAS

There wasn't a ton of rectal microbicide coverage at the recent IAS in Rome, but here is some content from the conference on this topic.

Acceptability of potential rectal microbicide delivery mechanisms for HIV prevention
Abstract
Slides/Audio

Acceptability of microbicides and other new prevention technologies among MSM in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina
Poster

Mobilizing MSM community in Nigeria to support rectal microbicides development (the author is Kadir Audu, head of IRMA Nigeria and Community Vice Chair on the IRMA Steering Committee.)
Abstract



[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.]