News

IAS 2019 – Early Programme preview

The programme preview of the 10th IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2019) is now available featuring the confirmed symposia and plenary sessions.

Symposia sessions address critical issues that defy simple solutions. Focusing on a single, clearly defined topic or issue, speakers and delegates share experiences, contribute relevant research findings, and brainstorm ideas to identify possible ways forward.

Featured Article in Asia-Pacific Biotech News by Annette Sohn: Falling behind in the fight against HIV/AIDS

Asia-Pacific has shown important leadership on HIV/AIDS and has made solid progress towards controlling the epidemic in the region. In this op-ed, however, the authors draw attention to recent indicators suggesting that Asia has fallen behind in the fight against HIV/AIDS in key areas compared to other regions of the world. After summarising some of the obstacles to achieving epidemic control, such as widespread stigma and discrimination, the authors offer possible solutions for how the region can close gaps in HIV testing and treatment.

Access the complete text here

New research article in JIAS about binge drinking among people living with HIV in four African countries

Hazardous alcohol consumption has been shown to be higher among people living with HIV compared to the general population. A new study from a collaboration between IeDEA West and South Africa looks at the prevalence of binge drinking among people living with HIV in four African countries.

Read the full article in Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS)

CIPHER Fellowship Programme – Applications to the 2018/2019 round are now open

Growing the Leaders of Tomorrow Fellowship Programme

CIPHER launched its Growing the Leaders of Tomorrow Fellowship Programme in 2017 to build and support clinical research leadership in paediatric and adolescent HIV in low- and middle-income countries, particularly high-burden countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

CIPHER Fellows are medical practitioners from sub-Saharan Africa with clinical research experience and the potential to become the next generation of leaders in paediatric and adolescent HIV clinical science. Each fellow receives $70,000 over two years, and has already linked with a potential mentor. The mentor is an internationally renowned researcher in paediatric and adolescent HIV with an established clinical research collaboration based at an institute of excellence in sub-Saharan Africa.

By supporting this link, the programme strengthens each fellow’s research skills, facilitates their integration into international clinical research networks, and enables them to compete more effectively for international research funding. At the same time, it helps address priority research gaps in paediatric and adolescent HIV clinical science and contributes to building institutional capacity in sub-Saharan Africa.

Find out more

IeDEA Consortium publishes journal supplement on research priorities for achieving universal HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa

Nearly all countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have adopted national polices for universal HIV treatment, regardless of CD4 cell count or clinical stage. Evidence to date from SSA suggests that, once linked to care, timely ART initiation with retention and viral suppression is the norm. However, ART initiation in SSA usually occurs late in the course of infection, driving up mortality and new infection rates. With 10.3 million people untreated and a projected 1.2M new infections per year in SSA, the universal treatment era presents strategic opportunities for health systems to substantially reduce AIDS-related mortality and HIV incidence. This special issue of the Journal of Virus Eradication, with contributing authors from the African regions of the IeDEA consortium and the World Health Organization (WHO), contains an editorial and eight articles focused on issues critical to ensuring the success and impact of universal treatment implementation in SSA.

For the complete edition and all articles click here