December 22, 2020
Dear Friends, Partners and Fellow Advocates,
As 2020 comes to an end, we hope this finds you in a place that allows for rest, rejuvenation and reflection. In a profoundly challenging year, we at AVAC draw strength from all of our allies and partners and have a renewed sense of gratitude—for the dynamic leadership of civil society, for the power and promise of scientific inquiry, for evidence-based decisions, and for voters who support democratic principles. We know 2021 will bring new challenges, new choices and new clarity. And now more than ever, we need to be strong, prepared and resilient.
In a world turned upside down by another global pandemic and economic recession, and with support from all of you, we have seen how essential it is for
advocacy and health systems to ensure we protect global gains against HIV and other health threats, even as COVID-19 disrupted supply chains and access to care.
We have joined our partners in an extraordinary effort, engaging researchers, regulators and communities to build a global response to COVID-19 based on equity and to build a movement for pandemic preparedness.
And, in the midst of it all, we have witnessed landmark
strides in the development of additional
HIV prevention options.
This resilience must deepen and expand in 2021—COVID-19, HIV, siloed-responses, vaccine nationalism and inequitable access are not over, far from it. In the days to come, we at AVAC hope you will rest, rejuvenate and prepare, because in 2021 the world will need your fierce voices and actions more than ever.
To help prepare, we’ve gathered below AVAC resources to support our collective work in 2021. And to help us, if you can, please consider a contribution to keep this work moving by visiting
www.avac.org/donate.
From all of us, we wish you health, love and strength in the New Year,
AVAC
Reading and Resources for the Holidays and Beyond:
- For a quick, sharp take on where HIV prevention advocacy is headed in 2021, read AVAC’s Dear World letter.
- Listen to CAB-LA is Highly Effective; Now what, our latest Px Pulse podcast exploring the early results from trials testing cabotegravir as a long-acting injectable PrEP. The podcast also takes up what comes next in planning for the rollout of CAB-LA alongside oral PrEP and the Dapivirine Vaginal Ring. And check out a host of resources on the dedicated CAB-LA page.
- Listen to A Leap Forward For The Dapivirine Vaginal Ring, the Next Steps Are Critical, our podcast featuring five perspectives in on next steps for the ring. For a deeper dive, check out Understanding the EMA Opinion and Next Steps for the Dapivirine Vaginal Ring.
- Check out new resources on Antibody-Related Research, particularly Amp-ticipation: Context and concepts for understanding the AMP Trials, a blog by AVAC co-founder Bill Snow.
- Designing a New Generation of Prevention Efficacy Trials, also by Bill Snow, lays out basic concepts in innovations in trial design and an analysis of the implications for advocacy.
- Women and Girls at the Center is a joint initiative between AVAC and FP2020 and features resources to champion the integration of sexual and reproductive health with HIV prevention and treatment. Download a webinar, One Year After ECHO: Innovation in the time of COVID, and find links to a host of resources to inform your advocacy.
- A Dynamic New Global PrEP Tracker provides a whole new way to visualize and explore the data from our Global PrEP Tracker, a database that documents oral PrEP uptake around the world.
- Advocate’s Guide To COVID-19 Vaccine Access is a plain-language guide on the necessary components for equitable access to a COVID-19 vaccine.
- Cheat Sheet: COVID-19 Vaccine Pipeline provides an at-a-glance view of the funders, platforms, research phase and considerations for some of the front-runner candidates.
- Protecting Global Gains is a partnership of Amref Health Africa, AVAC, and Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, TB and Malaria that documents innovative solutions to the impact of COVID-19 on health programs all over the world.
- Why exciting results from vaccine research are just the beginning of efforts to end COVID-19, a Devex op-ed, written by AVAC’s Mitchell Warren, focuses on lessons from HIV to ensure effective COVID-19 vaccine becomes accessible to the people who need it.
- For our last word in 2020, we invite advocates, activists, supporters, allies and friends to share in our celebration of two remarkable achievements this year: AVAC’s 25th year as a champion for HIV prevention research, and the 10th year of AVAC’s extraordinary Fellows Program. Click through to see a timeline of growth and impact for AVAC at large, and explore this report to learn more about the strength and reach of the Fellows Program.
