Breakthroughs Blog: HIV/AIDS

Janna Oberdorf, Director of Communications and Outreach for Women Deliver, writes about the recent “Women Deliver 50” initiative to mark International Women’s Day. Earlier this week, Women Deliver released its “Women Deliver 50,” a list of 50 inspiring ideas and solutions delivering for girls and women around the globe. Launched in celebration of International Women’s Day, this list showcases game-changing innovations and technologies that are making advances for girls and women worldwide. Several of the innovations include health technologies that harness research and development (R&D) to develop and deliver woman-centered prevention and treatment options. Selected from hundreds of nominations from 103 countries, some of the “Women Deliver 50” winners impact the lives of girls and women on a global scale by improving access to health technologies. For example, the GAVI Alliance is working to reduce the cost of HPV vaccines and to support their broad introduction in many of the world’s poorest countries. More than 85 percent of the 275,000 women who die every year from cervical cancer live in developing countries. Through its efforts, GAVI is aiming for millions of girls worldwide to receive the HPV vaccine, providing them with a better chance at a healthy and productive life. The “Women Deliver 50" list showcases game-changing innovations and technologies that are making advances for girls and women worldwide. Photo credit: PATH There are also medical technologies that, through R&D, are evolving to better meet the needs of girls and women. Female condoms have been around for 20 years, but even when available, women often decide not to use them because of cost and design concerns. With this in mind, PATH solicited input from couples around the world, and designed a more affordable, easy-to-use and comfortable female condom. With this new product, PATH is helping women to better protect themselves from HIV infection and unintended pregnancies. An innovative organization working to accelerate R&D for female-initiated solutions for HIV prevention is the International Partnership for Microbicides, a “Women Deliver 50” finalist. Vaginal rings, a popular method for delivering contraceptives, are long-acting, discreet, and easy to use. IPM has adapted this technology to the fight against HIV, and is preparing to launch a licensure program in partnership with the Microbicide Trials Network to determine whether a vaginal ring containing antiretroviral drugs can safely and effectively provide women with monthly protection against HIV. Should it be successful, the ring would empower women with the tools they need to protect their health. The “Women Deliver 50” winners demonstrate that we can develop revolutionary tools that impact the health and livelihoods of girls and women worldwide. We need to continue to create, test, and scale-up new and existing technologies. We still don’t have all the vaccines, drugs, devices and other health technologies that girls and women need, and it is critical for us to bridge this gap. As we’ve seen time and time again, when we invest in health innovations for girls and women, we see a positive ripple effect across society. If you weren’t one of the 6,000 people who voted for these 50 solutions, you can still weigh in with your thoughts. Visit the Women Deliver website to learn more about these exciting interventions, as well as other ideas and solutions making a difference around the world. And then visit Women Deliver on Facebook and Twitter to tell us what you think.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. Kayla Laserson, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Kenya Medical Research Institute Field Research Station in Kenya, writes about why US support for global health research is so critical. Investigators gave more detail about the positive results from the Partners PrEP Study at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle this week. The study found that antiretroviral treatment can prevent HIV transmission in couples where one partner is HIV-positive and the other is HIV-negative. Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency recently granted registration of a new child-friendly dosage of benznidazole, a treatment for Chagas disease. The dosage was developed through a partnership between the Pernambuco State Pharmaceutical Laboratory of Brazil and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative. The University of Dundee has received funding from the Wellcome Trust and pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline to research some of the world's neglected tropical diseases, including Chagas disease and African sleeping sickness.

Dr. Gaudensia Nzembi Mutua is a research physician at the Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative (KAVI). She is based in Nairobi, Kenya. This post originally appeared on the ONE blog. The first person in Kenya to speak publicly about her participation in an HIV vaccine trial, in 2001, was a woman. She was a former classmate of mine and also a medical doctor. I was fascinated to learn that this exciting research was happening right at my doorstep. Not long after, I left my position in the emergency room of a local hospital to join the Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative. It’s becoming more widely known that African women bear the greatest burden of HIV and AIDS worldwide. According to UNAIDS, 59 percent of all people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are women. What is less well known is the immense contribution African women have made and continue to make to HIV prevention research. For instance, the first clues that an AIDS vaccine might be possible came from African women. These were a small subset of sex workers in Nairobi and the Gambia who had been repeatedly exposed to HIV, but not infected; they were apparently able to resist the virus. The finding sparked a search—which continues to date—for a vaccine that can teach the body to protect itself against HIV. Two women working in a KAVI lab. Photo credit: PATH/Evelyn Hockstein I am motivated to work in this field because I am convinced that a safe and effective HIV vaccine, one that is made widely available to those who need it most, will be a game-changer for African women. The reality is that millions of women are simply unable to access or negotiate the use of any of the HIV prevention methods currently offered, which makes it critically important that we expand the range of options available. Today is International Women’s Day, which for me is a time to celebrate the contributions women have made to HIV prevention research. Female researchers, volunteers, advocates, and decision-makers around the world dedicate themselves to this cause. It is now more urgent than ever that we sustain support for efforts to develop new tools to prevent HIV infection, specifically ones that address the varied needs of women. A safe and effective HIV vaccine, used in combination with other prevention strategies, is our best hope of ending the AIDS pandemic. But developing new HIV prevention tools takes resources, people, and time—in the laboratory, in safety tests, and in clinical trials. Sustained investments in HIV vaccine research are therefore critical; so is political support. African women are playing a key role in the global endeavor to stop HIV and AIDS, and in the years to come will continue to be a central force in making an HIV vaccine a reality. Join us in this effort!

Research!America, a member of the GHTC, recently conducted analyses in target states to measure the health and economic impact of global health research and development (R&D), highlighting its benefits for states across the nation and strengthening the evidence base for Congress’ support of federal investments in global health R&D. This is the sixth and last post in a series. "If you want to live longer and healthier than the average American, then come to New York City,” Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced in December 2011. The city’s life expectancy for a 40-year old in 2009 was 82, compared with 80.1 for the rest of the United States. Babies born in New York City in 2009 will see an increase of nearly three years on their life spans, versus 1.5 years nationwide. With the leadership of the mayor, who has an outstanding track record on public health leadership, and the dedication of its health commissioners, New York City has significantly brought down its rates of tuberculosis (TB) and stabilized the growth of new HIV infections over the last two decades. This leadership in public health also translates into a strong commitment to R&D. New York City has the world’s largest concentration of major academic research centers and the largest bioscience workforce of any city in the United States. The state is home to seven of the top 50 American research universities and attracts increased investment in the sciences with a 9 percent corporate tax break for R&D facilities. Combined with the commitment of its elected officials—and economic drivers like the new applied sciences campus, NYCTech, on Roosevelt Island—New York institutions are creating partnerships that transform how we do the business of health research. It is projected that NYCTech could in turn provide up to $150 million in seed money for up to 600 new local start-ups, which could generate an estimated 30,000 new jobs. Partnerships for health R&D contribute to the health and economy of New York, and the effects of these partnerships are felt around the world. After the National Institutes of Health, New York’s International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has the largest AIDS vaccine development program and partners with more than 50 other institutions to conduct research and clinical trials. The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), also headquartered in the Big Apple, manages the largest, most comprehensive portfolio of TB drug candidates ever. With the first cases of totally drug resistant TB identified in India earlier this year, identifying improved strategies to control TB has never been more critical. New York City has the world’s largest concentration of major academic research centers and the largest bioscience workforce of any city in the United States. Photo credit: PATH Public-private partnerships like IAVI and the TB Alliance rely in part on support from the federal government. Unfortunately, President Obama’s proposed fiscal year 2013 budget raises concerns for health R&D. “Public funding is evaporating at a time of tremendous opportunity. We’re on the brink of delivering potentially revolutionary new treatments for tuberculosis, with similar great promise in other areas of global health,” said Mel Spiegelman, president of TB Alliance. Former New York City Health Commissioner and current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden agrees with the need for sustained federal investment to protect the health and safety of Americans at home and abroad. “There are still far too many people who die from conditions that are easily preventable. Continued investments will help millions more live healthy and productive lives while helping to protect our own country from health threats,” he said.