Ruth Akulu

Ruth Akulu is an economist and HIV prevention advocate openly living with HIV and the Executive Director of HopeStone Insight Uganda, which seeks to influence policies, systems and economic decision making to improve health outcomes and ensure equitable access to quality healthcare for all communities. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in economics and trade policy from Ndejje University and is pursuing a Master’s in economics of sustainability at Torrens University Australia. She is a Young Women in Economics Scholar at Modern Money Lab and an alumna of the AVAC Fellows Programme (2022/23).

Nationally, Ruth has served as the Youth Representative on the Uganda Country Coordinating Mechanism Board for the Global Fund since 2023, contributing to grant development, oversight and strategic decision making for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria responses. She represented adolescent girls and young women in the PEPFAR Country Operational Plan priority-setting processes in 2021 and 2023. She is a member of the National HIV Prevention Committee and the Ministry of Health PrEP and Technical Working Group on adolescent girls and young women, contributing to shaping HIV prevention strategies. She has participated in several HIV-related task forces, including the National HIV/AIDS Policy Task Force, contributing to policy review, formulation and technical discussions on the HIV response. As a South-to-South Learning Network Country Champion, Ruth supports cross-country learning and collaboration on the HIV prevention and community-led response.

Regionally, Ruth represents community perspectives on the Portfolio Advisory Committee for the Regional Manufacturing for Equitable Access, a Unitaid investment aimed at strengthening regional manufacturing of quality-assured health products in Africa. She is also a member of the Dual Prevention Pill (DPP) Civil Society Advisory Group and has played a role in strengthening community engagement and accountability to inform DPP research and development, market preparation and country introduction. She is a member of the HIV Clinical Trial Design Academy, contributing to strengthening community-informed approaches to clinical research design. Previously, on the Young Women HIV Prevention Council, she contributed to shaping the adolescent girls and young women agenda in HIV prevention research and development. In the African HIV Control Working Group under the HIV Sustainability, Leadership and Governance Thematic Group, she contributed to efforts to strengthen sustainability, governance and an equitable HIV response across the continent.

Globally, Ruth served on the UNAIDS Post-2030 HIV Response Working Group and the Multipurpose Prevention Technologies Regulatory Working Group at the Forum for Collaborative Research. She has authored and co-authored publications on HIV prevention, sustainability and regulatory systems, and has presented at international conferences, including ICASA and AIDS 2024.

Ruth has been an IAS Member since 2019 and serves on the AIDS 2026 Global Village Committee. Her vision is to advance economically informed, person-centred and sustainable approaches to HIV and sexual and reproductive health while strengthening dialogue between communities, researchers, economists and policy makers to support a more sustainable and integrated health response in Africa.