UNAIDS issued a statement calling on all countries to ensure efforts towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support are not impeded by bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. The statement says that “in this current economic climate, resources for AIDS have already flattened and need for treatment continues to outstrip supply.

AVAC announced the selection of their 2011 HIV Prevention Research Advocacy fellows who were selected from a pool of over 60 applicants from 17 countries. Each fellow will receive financial support from AVAC for their 12-month project and fellows will focus on a variety of issues including: monitoring the rollout of male circumcision for HIV prevention; journalist and media engagement around prevention research; research literacy with disenfranchised groups; PrEP and microbicide trial results dissemination, etc.

GeoVax is expanding to Phase 2a clinical trial testing of its HIV/AIDS vaccine products.  The expanded Phase 2a trial will test the administration of three doses of the recombinant poxvirus vaccine MVA62B without the use of the recombinant DNA-vectored vaccine, which was used to prime immune responses in the first part of this trial. More information is available here.

The World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have announced a collaboration to increase coordination across the international vaccine community and create a Global Vaccine Action Plan.  This plan will build on the successes of current work to achieve key milestones in the discovery, development and delivery of lifesaving vaccines to the most vulnerable populations in the poorest countries over the next decade.  Read more about the Global Vaccine Action Plan

The GAIA Vaccine Foundation awarded its “International Hope is a Vaccine Award 2010” to Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, Julie McElrath, Principal Investigator and Director of the HVTN and Gail Skowron, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Roger Williams Medical Center.  The “Hope is a Vaccine Award” is given annually to deserving individuals working in the international, national and local fight against HIV/AIDS, highlights the important work done by individuals fighting AIDS and their contributions to improving HIV care for persons living at the margins. 

The Canadian Health Minister, Leona Aglukkaq, announced Dr. Bhagirath Singh and Dr. Jose Esparza as Co-chairs of the Advisory Board that will oversee the renewed Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI) and its Research and Development Alliance.  The Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI) press release can be found here.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a statement on the iPrEx study results, http://www.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2010/Pages/iPrEx.aspx.   The statement quotes Anthony S.

The HVTN released a statement on the iPrEx study results, stating that "PrEP is an exciting addition to the “toolbox” of HIV prevention strategies."  The full statement is available below.

“This is a great day in the fight against AIDS. The positive results of the iPrEx oral PrEP study are a major milestone in HIV prevention research and provide important information about how antiretroviral drugs might be used for prevention byHIV-negative people at high risk for HIV infection,” said AVAC Executive Director Mitchell Warren. Click the below link to read the full statement.

Organizer: Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) and International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)

Location: Kasenyi landing site, Entebbe, Uganda
Date/Time: Monday, 29 November, 9:00 – 13:00