Next week more than 15,000 global leaders, policy makers, researchers, and advocates from 160 countries will gather in Amsterdam for #AIDS2018 to share the latest in HIV prevention, treatment and cure research, and insights on the global agenda.
The meeting will feature more than 30 Population Council presentations on new HIV research findings including strategies to reach vulnerable populations with high-quality HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support. For decades, the Population Council’s research has been building the evidence base on what works for many vulnerable populations, in many geographies, and today through major flagship programs like DREAMS IS and Project SOAR, the Council is identifying and evaluating strategies to better maximize their impact and ultimately reduce HIV risk.
Whether you’re in Amsterdam or participating in #AIDS2018 from afar, you’ll want to check out the Council’s research, perspectives, and resources on vulnerable populations and other strategies to curb the epidemic. Highlights at AIDS 2018 include:
- Four oral presentations—two highlighting Project SOAR work in Kenya and Uganda to understand the effects of PEPFAR’s geographic prioritization process on HIV and non-HIV services, as well as on the health system, our experience in India strengthening HIV-related community organizations, and findings from our latent class analysis to better understand men's HIV risk profiles in South African DREAMS sites.
- A range of poster presentations: topics include: HIV self-testing and community-based HIV care and treatment for key populations (KP), test and start, associations with depression and self-efficacy among female sex workers, male partner engagement and relationships with adolescent girls and young women, PrEP introduction in Tanzania, costing of private sector voluntary medical male circumcision, updating the People Living with HIV Stigma Index, and more.
- One symposium session: on Tuesday, July 24 from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. where Julie Pulerwitz will share innovations in delivering comprehensive programs for the most vulnerable girls at the session, “Girl uninterrupted: Evidence, implementation and agency in programming for girls & young women.”
- Various Council perspectives:
- Monday July 23, 2:45 – 4:45 p.m.
- Satellite: Sanyukta Mathur will present on "the power of data and programs” at the “Daring to DREAM: PEPFAR’s Partnership for Adolescent Girls and Young Women" session
- Wednesday, 25 July from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
- Hosted satellite session: The Council’s Project SOAR and John Hopkins University will host a satellite event, “Intersectional Stigma: How to Measure and Programmatically Address Multiple Intersecting Stigmas that Potentiate HIV Risk” to share methods of measuring and addressing intersectional stigmas that potentiate HIV acquisition and transmission risks. Scott Geibel will share insights from an intervention in Bangladesh looking at ways to reduce intersectional stigma among health service providers and an updated People Living with HIV Stigma Index.
- Thursday, July 26 from 7:00 – 8:30 a.m.
- Satellite: Julie Pulerwitz will moderate the high-level panel, “SHE is the Future Adolescent Girl and Young Women’s Engagement in a more effective prevention response” organized by UNICEF, PEPFAR and IAS.
- Thursday, July 26 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
- Satellite: JIAS launched a special supplement on new evidence and data-driven strategies for improving key population programming across the HIV cascade. This satellite session, “Optimizing the impact of key population programming across the HIV cascade,” will review the supplement and new evidence, including a presentation by Sylvia Adebajo on the uptake of HIV self-testing and linkage to treatment among men who have sex with men in Nigeria.
- Monday July 23, 2:45 – 4:45 p.m.