September 17, 2020
Dear Advocates,
A fresh episode of AVAC’s Px Pulse podcast is ready for download, looking at what the
Dapivirine Vaginal Ring means for women and for HIV prevention from several perspectives.
The ring is the first woman-initiated HIV prevention option to receive a positive regulatory opinion since the female condom in 1993.
In this episode,
Zeda Rosenberg, founder and chief executive officer of the
International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM)—the ring’s developer—walks us through next steps for securing access now that the
European Medicines Agency (EMA) has released a
positive regulatory opinion.
Cleopatra Makura, a 2019 AVAC Fellow and HIV prevention youth advocate leader in Zimbabwe,
Sharon Hillier, head of the Microbicide Trials Network (MTN), and Benny Kottiri,
Research Division Chief in the Office of HIV/AIDS at USAID, discuss the work of advocates, why the ring is a promising new option and the need for continued investment in ring rollout. And
Lori Heise, professor of social epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an early champion of microbicides research, draws on powerful lessons from the past to guide what must come next in rolling out the ring.
Check out
AVAC.org’s dedicated page for the Dapivirine Vaginal Ring, as well as the
ring page on PrEP Watch for the full background and status of the ring, including resources for advocacy and access.
Want to learn more? Please
join this webinar hosted by the PrEP Learning Network on Thursday, September 24, 2020 9:00 AM EDT | 15:00 CAT | 16:00 EAT, providing an overview of the Dapivirine Vaginal Ring and the regulatory process, a framework for ring introduction as part of combination prevention, and national considerations for introduction in Zimbabwe and Kenya.
For the full podcast episode, highlights and more resources, visit
avac.org/px-pulse. And subscribe on
Apple Podcasts,
Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts!
Best,
AVAC
