Original content from the Mapping Pathways team
MP: In terms of studies and projects, what are you most looking forward to this year?
JP: It’s going to be an eventful year in the HIV prevention world – I’m excited, energized, and daunted, all at the same time! I’m looking forward to just following the science and seeing where that takes us. For instance, rectal microbicide trials are taking an international leap and moving up into phase 2, which is HUGE.
The other big aspect we all need to focus on this year is getting into the implementation particulars around PrEP. There is a PrEP implementation project starting in the US – about 500 gay men split between San Francisco and Miami who will be given PrEP. This is an actual implementation project, NOT a research study, and we hope to learn a great deal from it. There are critical questions around delivering the intervention: How do you get the pill to people? How do you help make sure they’re adherent? How do you keep them in the loop for ongoing testing, so you know soon if they seroconvert? We don’t know the answers because we’ve never done it! It will be very interesting and informative to see how that plays out…what comes up, what works, what’s a problem, and what needs to be changed.
There are also studies (some are happening and some are scheduled to begin in 2012) looking at different ways of dosing PrEP. Right now, we have proof that PrEP used every day works. But what about intermittent dosing – a few times a week or just around the time of sex? What about those strategies? We won’t have hard data in this year but we’ll start learning more. If we can, in fact, do intermittent dosing, or dosing just around the time of sex, that could be great – it would reduce costs, and importantly, make it easier for people to adhere. We may also find out that intermittent dosing, or dosing around the time of sex, doesn’t work. Whatever we find out will be critical to assess as we move forward with PrEP as an HIV prevention strategy.
MP: What are your thoughts on the upcoming US presidential election?
JP: I’m daunted by the 2012 American elections. Whatever happens will be critical for the entire world in terms of how we move forward with the provision of services, science, and research. American elections are always important for everybody, with far-reaching implications – and this time, the stakes are really high. It’s a critical year. But I guess you could say that about every election. When wouldn’t we say it’s critical?
MP: What about the global political landscape?
JP: If you look at politics globally, with economic crises rolling across much of the world, how governments support this work or not will be really important. We don’t want to lose ground. UNAIDS put out a report in November – an annual global snapshot – that shows that 50% of people who need treatment are now on treatment. That’s a big jump up, a good number. We’re going in the right direction and we’ve been able to achieve that even in tough times. But you’re only as good as you are today and we don’t want to lose that ground – we want to move to a place where everyone who needs treatment has it, not just half. Half is better than where we were, but we need to move forward.
We all need to keep a close eye on global politics and how that affects priorities in terms of both provision of treatment for people with HIV and ongoing work in prevention. We can’t treat ourselves out of this. We have to have a solid mix of prevention and treatment and care. Our approach needs to be holistic; if we start throwing things to the side and looking at one or two “magical” solutions, we’re going to be in trouble. When you have new things, there’s a desire to say that the old things don’t work, let’s just look at the new things and throw everything else out. Also, in times of economic scarcity, there is a tendency to pare down. We have to be smarter, use our money more strategically. Does everything work equally well? No. Can we get rid of some things? Probably, yes. But that requires a lot of thought and analysis, and every decision needs to be localized.
I think that’s what this year is going to be characterized around...how we start to make sense – and use – of all this science we’re amassing. We’re getting more and more into the rubber-hits-the-road phase.
MP: In terms of conferences in 2012, what are the highlights for you?
JP: The 2012 International Microbicides Conference will take place in Sydney in April. And the granddaddy of all conferences, the International AIDS Conference, is being held in Washington, DC in July. It’s the first time it’s been in the US for a couple of decades because we had a ban on people with HIV traveling here, which precluded us from being able to host that conference. The ban was recently lifted by the Obama administration. This conference is going to be a big deal. It’ll put the spotlight on DC, in terms of DC’s support for HIV/AIDS both domestically and internationally. It’ll also be another great opportunity for Mapping Pathways to disseminate information and we’re hoping we’ll be able to utilize that huge stage – the biggest AIDS stage there is.
[Content that is linked from other sources is for informational purposes and should not construe a Mapping Pathways position.]
JP: It’s going to be an eventful year in the HIV prevention world – I’m excited, energized, and daunted, all at the same time! I’m looking forward to just following the science and seeing where that takes us. For instance, rectal microbicide trials are taking an international leap and moving up into phase 2, which is HUGE.
The other big aspect we all need to focus on this year is getting into the implementation particulars around PrEP. There is a PrEP implementation project starting in the US – about 500 gay men split between San Francisco and Miami who will be given PrEP. This is an actual implementation project, NOT a research study, and we hope to learn a great deal from it. There are critical questions around delivering the intervention: How do you get the pill to people? How do you help make sure they’re adherent? How do you keep them in the loop for ongoing testing, so you know soon if they seroconvert? We don’t know the answers because we’ve never done it! It will be very interesting and informative to see how that plays out…what comes up, what works, what’s a problem, and what needs to be changed.
There are also studies (some are happening and some are scheduled to begin in 2012) looking at different ways of dosing PrEP. Right now, we have proof that PrEP used every day works. But what about intermittent dosing – a few times a week or just around the time of sex? What about those strategies? We won’t have hard data in this year but we’ll start learning more. If we can, in fact, do intermittent dosing, or dosing just around the time of sex, that could be great – it would reduce costs, and importantly, make it easier for people to adhere. We may also find out that intermittent dosing, or dosing around the time of sex, doesn’t work. Whatever we find out will be critical to assess as we move forward with PrEP as an HIV prevention strategy.
MP: What are your thoughts on the upcoming US presidential election?
JP: I’m daunted by the 2012 American elections. Whatever happens will be critical for the entire world in terms of how we move forward with the provision of services, science, and research. American elections are always important for everybody, with far-reaching implications – and this time, the stakes are really high. It’s a critical year. But I guess you could say that about every election. When wouldn’t we say it’s critical?
MP: What about the global political landscape?
JP: If you look at politics globally, with economic crises rolling across much of the world, how governments support this work or not will be really important. We don’t want to lose ground. UNAIDS put out a report in November – an annual global snapshot – that shows that 50% of people who need treatment are now on treatment. That’s a big jump up, a good number. We’re going in the right direction and we’ve been able to achieve that even in tough times. But you’re only as good as you are today and we don’t want to lose that ground – we want to move to a place where everyone who needs treatment has it, not just half. Half is better than where we were, but we need to move forward.
We all need to keep a close eye on global politics and how that affects priorities in terms of both provision of treatment for people with HIV and ongoing work in prevention. We can’t treat ourselves out of this. We have to have a solid mix of prevention and treatment and care. Our approach needs to be holistic; if we start throwing things to the side and looking at one or two “magical” solutions, we’re going to be in trouble. When you have new things, there’s a desire to say that the old things don’t work, let’s just look at the new things and throw everything else out. Also, in times of economic scarcity, there is a tendency to pare down. We have to be smarter, use our money more strategically. Does everything work equally well? No. Can we get rid of some things? Probably, yes. But that requires a lot of thought and analysis, and every decision needs to be localized.
I think that’s what this year is going to be characterized around...how we start to make sense – and use – of all this science we’re amassing. We’re getting more and more into the rubber-hits-the-road phase.
MP: In terms of conferences in 2012, what are the highlights for you?
JP: The 2012 International Microbicides Conference will take place in Sydney in April. And the granddaddy of all conferences, the International AIDS Conference, is being held in Washington, DC in July. It’s the first time it’s been in the US for a couple of decades because we had a ban on people with HIV traveling here, which precluded us from being able to host that conference. The ban was recently lifted by the Obama administration. This conference is going to be a big deal. It’ll put the spotlight on DC, in terms of DC’s support for HIV/AIDS both domestically and internationally. It’ll also be another great opportunity for Mapping Pathways to disseminate information and we’re hoping we’ll be able to utilize that huge stage – the biggest AIDS stage there is.
Jim Pickett is the Director of Prevention Advocacy and Gay Men's Health at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. He is chair of IRMA (International Rectal Microbicide Advocates), and a member of the Mapping Pathways team.
[Content that is linked from other sources is for informational purposes and should not construe a Mapping Pathways position.]
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