Using Antiretrovirals to Prevent HIV: Implications of the Outcome of the CAPRISA 004 Tenfovir-Gel Microbicide Trial
July 2010
Environmental Scan: Mapping HIV Research Priorities for Women and Children
July 2010
The International AIDS Society-Industry Liaison Forum (IAS-ILF) began the Mapping and Building Consensus on Clinical and Operations Research Priorities for Women and Children initiative in February 2009. This initiative was designed to develop a research agenda, based on the most current scientific evidence and expert advice, which would answer outstanding priority knowledge gaps in clinical and programme management relevant to the unique needs of women and children.
The
Environmental Scan: Mapping HIV Research Priorities for Women and Children, which includes a comprehensive review of grey and scientific literature and key informant interviews, maps the current clinical and operations research landscape for women and children. The purpose of the environmental scan was to identify research questions required to address outstanding knowledge gaps in clinical treatment and programme delivery to these populations.
The findings of a the environmental scan were used to develop a draft set of priority clinical and operations research questions for the
ILF multi-stakeholder consultation with investigators, clinicians, civil society, UN agencies and pharmaceutical and diagnostic industry, held in conjunction with the 5th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Cape Town, South Africa, in July 2009. The Environmental Scan provided the foundation of evidence for the consultation and subsequent recommendations released in a joint Consensus Statement,
Asking the Right Questions: Advancing an HIV Research Agenda for Women and Children, on 8 March 2010.
The Environmental Scan covers priority research questions within three broad categories: (1) clinical research on prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) and paediatric treatment; (2) clinical research on treatment issues for women; and (3) operations research for women. A comprehensive review of a fourth category, operations and implementation research related to PMTCT, including paediatric care, treatment and support, has been carried out by a parallel, high-level consultation. This was led by UNICEF with the involvement of the Interagency Task Team for PMTCT, including the WHO, UNAIDS and US agencies, and carried out in collaboration with George Washington University and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
The Environmental Scan: Mapping HIV Research Priorities for Women and Children was updated to include related peer-reviewed articles and abstracts published until March 2010.
ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS: Advancing an HIV Research Agenda for Women and Children
March 2010
On 8 March 2010, International Women’s Day, the International AIDS Society (IAS) and 15 other leading public and private sector organizations released a comprehensive research agenda designed to significantly advance global responses to HIV in women, girls and children. The new consensus statement,
Asking the Right Questions: Advancing an HIV Research Agenda for Women and Children, includes 20 specific recommendations to expand and improve responses to the HIV-related challenges facing women and children worldwide.
The Agenda identifies priority research questions within four broad categories: 1) clinical research on prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) and paediatric treatment; 2) clinical research on treatment issues for women; 3) operations research for women; and 4) operations and implementation research related to PMTCT, including paediatric care, treatment and support. Recommendations in the fourth category of the agenda were developed through a parallel, high level consultation led by UNICEF, with the involvement of the Interagency Task Team for PMTCT, including the WHO, UNAIDS and US agencies and in collaboration with George Washington University (GWU) and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF). Information on the UNICEF-led initiative, including the final list of operations/implementation research recommendations for PMTCT and paediatric care, treatment and support from a September 2009 expert consultation held in Washington, will be available online at
www.unicef.org or
www.pedaids.org.
Read the related press release here
To see a webcast of the multi-stakeholder consultation held in July 2009, click
here.
To download the full consensus statement – ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS: Advancing an HIV Research Agenda for Women and Children, click
here.