IAPAC NEWS BULLETIN —
JULY 2020
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90-90-90 Targets Update:
COVID-19-Related Service Disruptions
Threaten Progress Against HIV
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Representatives from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), World Health Organization (WHO), and International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC) expressed concern about COVID-19-related disruptions in the continuity of HIV services during IAPAC's sixth annual
90-90-90 Targets Update
from June 30-July 1, 2020, as part of an AIDS 2020 virtual pre-conference.
More than 400 clinicians, researchers, and community representatives from around the world participated in the virtual pre-conference, which included presentations of firsthand accounts about and new data related to COVID-19 responses in national and urban settings. Speakers also discussed how health systems are leveraging existing resources and implementing novel approaches to deliver continuous HIV services.
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UNAIDS Executive Director Ms. Winnie Byanyima called for developing a
"Peoples Vaccine" against SARS-CoV-2 during her 2020 90-90-90 Targets
dialogue with IAPAC President/CEO Dr. José M. Zuniga on July 1, 2020.
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IAPAC Communicates Support to HIV2020 Delegates
IAPAC President/CEO Dr. José M. Zuniga addressed the HIV2020 online conference on July 8, 2020, communicating solidarity with community members at the frontlines of the HIV response. The conference theme was "Community Reclaiming the Global Response."
Among his key messages: "There is a need to ensure that you [community] are engaged, that you are leading, and that you are holding us to account - all stakeholders involved in the global, national, and municipal responses to HIV and COVID-19."
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Brescia Joins Fast-Track Cities amidst COVID-19 in Italy
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IAPAC's Vice President of Strategic Partnerships Bertrand Audoin welcomed the city of Brescia, Italy, to the Fast-Track Cities network during a signing ceremony held July 21, 2020. Situated in the heart of the hard-hit Lombardy region, Brescia, which became the fifth Fast-Track City in Italy, is considered one of that country's COVID-19 epicenters.
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UPDATE:
Fast-Track Cities 2020
Goes Virtual
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In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, IAPAC has transitioned the originally scheduled in-perso
n
Fast-Track Cities 2020
c
onference into a virtual conference that will take place September 9-10, 2020. The virtual conference is organized by IAPAC in collaboration with UNAIDS, the Fast-Track Cities Institute, and other partners.
The
virtual
conference’s live program (September 9-10, 2020) will include a High-Level Panel, Keynote Address, Plenary Sessions, Urban Case Studies, and a Closing Panel. The conference will focus on urban HIV, TB, and HCV responses within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, 25 pre-recorded, pre-conference plenary sessions will be available t
o
Virtual Fast-Track Cities 2020
re
gistered delegates commencing September 7, 2020. These sessions will cover clinical research and management, service delivery, co-morbid and syndemic conditions, key populations, stigma mitigation, facilitators for action. Moreover, there will be three disease-specific sessions addressing the continua of urban HIV, TB, and HCV responses.
Registration for the
virtual
conference is free-of-charge. Online registration is required.
The
Virtual Fast-Track Cities 2020
c
onference is made possible through corporate sponsorship from Gilead Sciences and ViiV Healthcare.
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Fast-Track Cities Implementation Science Fund
LOI Submission Deadline Extended to July 31, 2020
Through funding from ViiV Healthcare and Gilead Sciences, IAPAC is supporting academic and community researchers to conduct implementation science research aimed at identifying interventions, policies, and strategies that can measurably improve and expand access to HIV services in urban settings. The deadline for submission of Letters of Intent (LOIs) has been
extended to July 31, 2020.
The Fast-Track Cities Implementation Science Fund recently hosted an informational webinar for potential applicants. The full video of the training session, which is designed to assist researchers with LOI development, is available on the
IAPAC YouTube channel.
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IAPAC Supports Young Innovators through AHEAD Hackathon
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IAPAC is a proud
partner of Youth Against AIDS, which works to promote sexual health literacy among young people around the world. As part of our partnership, IAPAC joined Youth Against AIDS in funding its recent AHEAD Hackathon competition during AIDS 2020. The AHEAD Hackathon
encouraged young innovators to develop new concepts for tackling various barriers impeding progress in the global fight against HIV. IAPAC President/CEO Dr. José M. Zuniga was among a jury of global public health experts that selected the winning finalists.
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IAPAC Welcomes New Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives
Karen Chale was promoted to IAPAC Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives on July 1, 2020. Prior to her new role, she served as the IAPAC City Program Officer (CPO) for Lusaka, Zambia, supporting the UNAIDS-IAPAC 15-City Fast-Track Cities Project. Prior to joining IAPAC, Ms. Chale was an Adolescent and HIV Technical Assistance Consultant for Zambia'a National HIV/AIDS/STI/TB Council.
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The Symbolic Meaning of HIV: Understanding Lecturers’ Ambivalence over Teaching HIV to Dietetic Students
New research in the latest edition of the
Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (
JIAPAC) suggests that more direct interaction with people living with HIV can improve the ability of medical school lecturers to abandon latent biases and teach the full spectrum of knowledge about HIV.
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