Join us at AIDS 2022

July 19, 2022 by PATH

During the 24th International AIDS Conference, PATH will showcase our continued commitment to health equity by supporting communities to lead the delivery of integrated HIV and primary health care (PHC) services and ensuring client needs and preferences shape health care models and technologies.

The end of 2021 raised a warning call for the global health community. Compounded by COVID-19, entrenched inequities, and the growing burden of co-morbidities such as tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, and non-communicable diseases, the curves of HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are not bending fast enough to end HIV. Investing in a rights-based lens and community-led tailored and integrated service delivery is essential to getting HIV programming back on track to meet 2030 targets.

The 24th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2022) calls for us to follow the science and re-engage, especially in areas where service delivery gaps persist and among communities that remain left behind. This includes applying human-centered design and engaging stakeholders to develop and launch new models for differentiated, community-delivered HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and self-testing for HIV, hepatitis C (HCV), and COVID-19 across southern Africa and Asia; re-brand and demedicalize PrEP in Zimbabwe; and deploy tools to facilitate community-led service quality monitoring of HIV services in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

PATH speakers will highlight how we scale sustainable models for integrated HIV and PHC services, ranging from our work with the Ukrainian penal system to taking integrated HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, and opioid agonist therapy from pilot to government adoption; efforts in Vietnam to leverage community-led social enterprises and social contracting for expanded coverage of publicly-financed integrated HIV, viral hepatitis, mental health, and gender-affirming care; and initiatives to advance self-care through integrated self-testing and care technologies in Uganda, India, and Indonesia.

See below for a full schedule of PATH’s satellite symposia, oral presentations, and posters at the conference.

Satellite sessions and symposia

Pre-conference (PC)08: Long, healthy, and quality lives through integrated non-communicable disease and HIV prevention and care for people living with and affected by HIV

When: Wednesday, July 27; 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM EDT (1:00 PM – 4:30 PM UTC)

Where: Room 511/Channel 7

This pre-conference provides a unique space for the HIV and non-communicable diseases (NCD) communities to discuss how to join in efforts to identify catalytic and transformative solutions for achieving the best HIV and health outcomes for affected communities across the globe. This event brings together key decision-makers, opinion leaders, and communities to raise awareness of the current needs of people living with and affected by HIV in relation to NCD prevention and care; share best practices of integrated HIV and NCD programs and services from different regions and settings for reaching 2030 goals of beating NCDs and ending the AIDS epidemic; and create a networking zone to facilitate dialogue and catalyze opportunities for collaboration between HIV and NCD advocates, funders, and program implementers.

Kimberly Green will serve as a panelist on a discussion focused on bridging the knowledge and finance gaps, speaking to PATH’s work to advance sustainable integrated HIV and NCD service delivery models.

Satellite session (SA)005: Beyond theory: People, providers, and policymakers share practical perspectives on delivering responsive, person-centered HIV and primary healthcare (PHC)

When: Friday, July 29; 7:45 AM – 8:45 AM EDT (10:45 AM –11:45 AM UTC)

Where: Room 516/Channel 6

Person-centered HIV services integrated within public and private sector primary health care (PHC) provide a critical strategy for sustained services as part of national health programs and 2030 universal health coverage (UHC) goals. Recent studies and real-world implementation have found HIV and PHC service uptake, treatment continuation, improved individual health outcomes and service delivery cost-efficiencies associated with integrated person-centered care (PCC). However, integrated PCC can be nebulous, with models and service delivery packages varying based on population needs and preferences. This session will feature real-world experiences of delivering integrated PCC designed to meet the unique needs of distinct client populations. Participants will hear firsthand how PCC shapes clients' care experience, as well as from the perspectives of providers, implementing partners, policymakers and donors on how and why integrated person-centered care advances local and global HIV, PHC and UHC goals. This session will be suitable for health providers, program managers, implementers, civil society organizations, community monitoring groups, client advocates, private sector partners, and policymakers.

Katya Gamazina co-chair this PATH and JSI-co-sponsored satellite session as well as moderate the panel discussion and Davina Canagasabey highlighting vignettes of person-centered HIV and PHC programming from PATH’s programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ukraine, and Vietnam.

SA004: PrEP-ing for 2030: why optimization and scale-up of the PrEP service and product mix is critical to addressing unmet PrEP need and supporting effective use towards 2030 HIV prevention goals

When: Friday, July 29; 7:45 AM – 8:45 AM EDT (10:45 AM –11:45 AM UTC)

Where: Room 517c/Channel 5

Despite COVID-19, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake increased significantly in 2021. This acceleration in uptake is attributable to the continued push to differentiate, simplify, demedicalize, and integrate PrEP services as part of person-centered care. However, unmet PrEP needs persist, calling for an approach that maintains the momentum in making PrEP more convenient, comfortable, and responsive to user needs and preferences. This includes continued diversification of PrEP service models—leveraging community-led, mobile, telehealth, pharmacy, primary health care platforms—and adaptation of these models for emerging PrEP products (long-acting cabotegravir; dapivirine ring). This session will highlight exciting advancements in integrated, person-centered PrEP delivery and share perspectives on how speeding access to newer PrEP products in lower-middle-income countries will propel the achievement of 2030 goals.

This satellite session is co-sponsored by PATH and AVAC and will feature Kimberly Green as session co-chair and moderator.

SA019: Self-testing to enhance HIV, hepatitis C, and COVID-19 diagnosis and integrated differentiated service delivery

When: Friday, July 29; 2:45 PM – 4:15 PM EDT (6:45 PM – 8:15 PM UTC)

Where: Room 518/Channel 10

Self-testing has shifted the paradigm for HIV testing, the first step in the care continuum. Only seven years ago, use of HIV self-testing (HIVST) was limited due to lack of evidence of accuracy, acceptability, feasibility, and concerns about safety. We are now witnessing large scale HIVST use. Scale up of HIVST is also driving a movement towards differentiated service delivery and acceleration of prevention access, increasing health system resilience against COVID-19 and decreases cost and complexity of services. HIVST provided a foundation from which other self-testing and self-care approaches can now be more readily realized, including sexually transmitted infections, hepatitis, and COVID-19. This session will reflect on the levers that have contributed to the HIVST market growth and discuss how the evidence from supply and demand side interventions can be applied to self-care and self-testing approaches in other disease areas.

This satellite session, organized by Unitaid and Population Services International, will feature Kimberly Green presenting use cases for HCV self-testing, drawing on PATH’s efforts to accelerate introduction and expansion of HCV self-testing.

SA022: Ending the HIV Epidemic: Thinking outside of the box

When: Friday, July 29; 2:45 PM – 4:15 PM EDT (6:45 PM – 8:15 PM UTC)

Where: Room 517b/Channel 4

There remains an unmet need for HIV testing solutions: While progress has been made, barriers to HIV testing remain and impact achievement of the 95/95/95 targets. A crucial step to reaching the UNAIDS goals is ensuring people with HIV are accurately identified. HIV self-testing can reduce barriers to testing by providing a convenient, confidential approach to HIV testing. Identifying HIV-positive patients by using fourth generation testing early on reduces the risk of onward transmission. Moving to Triple Elimination and Antenatal Care will also be essential. Dedication is needed to stay ahead of the evolving public health demands and reach vulnerable populations.

PATH’s Hong Anh Doan will present on our work to advance diagnostic innovations in Vietnam to support earlier detection and diagnosis of HIV during this Abbott sponsored satellite session.

SA038: HIV and viral hepatitis: Integrating programs and financing to accelerate the achievement of twin goals to eliminate HIV and viral hepatitis by 2030

When: Friday, July 29; 6:15 PM – 7:45 PM EDT (10:15 PM – 11:45 PM UTC)

Where: Room 517a/Channel 3

In 2019, there were an estimated 1.5 million new HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and HCV infections. While decades of investments have resulted in strong progress in HIV diagnosis and treatment HBV and HCV lag behind with around 10% and 26% of those with chronic HBV and chronic HCV diagnosed and even fewer treated. Among people living with HIV (PLHIV), 2.7 million people are coinfected with HBV and 2.3 million with HCV. Lack of progress in viral hepatitis means poorer outcomes for PLHIV, key populations, and pregnant women and their newborns. HIV programs (including testing, prevention, and treatment) provide opportunities for hepatis C and B integration tailored to population and local epidemiology. In this session, communities affected by viral hepatitis and HIV will share their perspectives on why it is urgent to scale-up access to HBV and HCV services. Implementers will present exciting ways in which they are pragmatically and effectively integrating viral hepatitis prevention, testing, and treatment into HIV services. Donors, ministries of health, advocacy and technical organizations will discuss their plans to accelerate elimination of viral hepatitis alongside HIV.

This satellite session—co-sponsored by PATH, The Hepatitis Fund, World Health Organization, Clinton Health Access Initiative, and the International AIDS Society—will feature Kimberly Green as a moderator; Svitlana Leontyeva sharing PATH’s efforts to scale access to integrated HIV, HCV, and opioid agonist therapy services for people in prisons and closed settings in Ukraine; and Bao Ngoc Vu highlighting our experience in Vietnam integrating viral hepatitis testing services into the HIV service delivery platform.

Symposium (SY)17: The gold standard: Measuring quality healthcare for people living with and affected by HIV

When: Sunday, July 31; 11:45 AM – 12:45 PM EDT (3:45 PM – 4:45 PM UTC)

Where: Room 517c/Channel 5

This session, moderated by Philips Loh, will feature novel ways in which communities are making key contributions to the monitoring and measurement of quality healthcare, how we need to rethink ways in which we measure success in HIV prevention services uptake and use, and why investing in and developing practical data use from national health information systems as part of the drive toward UHC is the future of strong program quality monitoring.

Oral presentations

OALBE: A tale of two countries: Assessing the transition, scale-up, and sustainability of HIVST introduction in India and Indonesia
Session: Late Breaker Track E

When: Sunday, July 31; 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM EDT (2:30 PM – 3:0 PM UTC)

Where: Room 510/Channel 8

Presenter: Asha Hegde

OAC05: Pragmatically approaching social network testing: Using a peer-driven community outreach model to extend the reach of HIV testing services to networks of people who inject drugs in Ukraine
Session: Packaging HIV prevention for different populations

When: Monday, August 1; 11:45 AM – 12:45 PM EDT (3:45 PM – 4:45 PM UTC);

Where: Room 517c/Channel 5

Presenter: Svitlana Leontyeva

OALBC01: National roll-out of community HIV screening among key populations in Indonesia: Assessment of early results
Session: Late Breaker Track C

When: Tuesday, August 2; 11:45 AM – 12:45 PM EDT (3:45 PM – 4:45 PM UTC);

Where: Room 517d/Channel 2

Presenter: Budi Utomo

OAE05: Integration of hepatitis B and C testing into HIV services: An opportunity to achieve dual elimination of hepatitis and HIV in Vietnam
Session: Client-centered care: Seamless service integration

When: Tuesday, August 2; 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM EDT (6:15 PM – 7:15 PM UTC)

Where: Room 516/Channel 6

Presenter: Bao Ngoc Vu

Poster presentations

EPE285: Feasibility and effectiveness of using an electronic client-feedback tool to improve HIV service quality at six high-volume health facilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Presenter: Cyprien Tendo

EPD480: Task-shifting for viral suppression: Piloting a provider-peer case management approach to support unsuppressed people living with HIV at Wantanshi Health Center in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Presenter: Cyprien Tendo

EPE363: Introducing a data-driven district action planning process to strengthen HIV programming and reach targets in India: Case example from Andhra Pradesh

Presenter: Asha Hegde

EPC385: Peer-led community HIV self-testing distribution models improves access to HIV testing services among key populations in Uganda

Presenter: Justine Tumusiime

EPC288: Partnering with the Ministry of Justice to launch and scale Ukraine’s first-ever medication-assisted treatment as part of the comprehensive HIV prevention services for prisoners with opioid dependency

Presenter: Tetiana Gaborets

EPC346: Advancing peer-driven social network testing and index testing to maximize reach of HIV testing services among men who have sex with men and their contacts in Ukraine

Presenter: Tetiana Gaborets

EPD141: Ensuring sustainable psychosocial services and comprehensive HIV, tuberculosis, and hepatitis C virus care package to detainees in Ukrainian pre-trial detention centers

Presenter: Svitlana Leontyeva

EPE099: Integrated transportation model for uninterrupted access to TB and HIV diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring in Ukraine

On-demand e-poster:

Presenter: Katya Gamazina

EPE221: Key populations and local government-led social contracting in Vietnam: A pathway to expanding coverage of publicly financed HIV services

Presenter: Yen Hai Vu

EPE144: Building up quality of PrEP services offered by key population-led clinics through a continuous quality improvement approach: A case study of Glink Hanoi clinic in Vietnam

Presenter: Hong Anh Doan

EPE394:Tele-PrEP during the Delta COVID-19 outbreak in Vietnam: Use of remote client engagement and home-delivery of pre-exposure prophylaxis and HIV self-test kits to maintain client access during lockdown

Presenter: Kimberly Green

EPE105: Sexually transmitted infections among clients seeking both pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and non-PrEP services at key population-led and -friendly private clinics in Vietnam

Presenter: Hong Anh Doan

EPE281: Advancing the sustainability of key population-led organizations in Vietnam through a social enterprise approach

Presenter: Yen Hai Vu

EPE148: Moving from biomedical HIV prevention to “V ineka that, that, that!”: Early insights from implementing “V” in Zimbabwe

Presenter: Thenjiwe Sisimayi

EPD178: Improving HIV oral PrEP continuation among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW): Evidence from a novel branding and service delivery strategy in Zimbabwe

Presenter: Kumbirai Chatora

HIV is persistent—but so are we. We are working with local and global partners to end the HIV epidemic by advancing a suite of new tools and approaches that optimize quality, choice, and convenience; engaging a range of public, private, lay, and civil society providers to deliver integrated HIV and health services; promoting digital tools and self-care; and driving equitable access to person-centered services for people living with HIV, their families, peers, and communities.

Learn more about our HIV/AIDS work.