IAVI commemorates World AIDS Day in a landmark year for HIV prevention

December 1 marks World AIDS Day. More than 40 years after HIV was first identified, 1.3 million people still acquire HIV annually, and more than 600,000 lose their lives to AIDS-related causes. The burden of HIV remains inequitably distributed, with a disproportionate burden on those in sub-Saharan Africa. The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day, “Take the rights path: My health, my right,” speaks to the need to continue pursuing global equity in the HIV response. In recognition of enduring inequity and the pressing public health need to bring the HIV response where it is needed most, IAVI and our partners advance a global access agenda centered on ensuring the products we are developing will reach all people who need them.

This year has seen landmark progress in HIV prevention. Lenacapavir, a form of injectable, long-acting PrEP, demonstrated remarkable efficacy in preventing HIV acquisition in clinical trial results published this summer and fall. But an HIV vaccine remains deeply needed to bring an end to the HIV pandemic. In recognition of World AIDS Day, IAVI has released a Meet the Scientist podcast focused on HIV vaccine development featuring IAVI’s HIV vaccines product development team lead, Vincent Muturi-Kioi, MBChB, M.S., who highlights a few of the key differences between a vaccine and long-acting PrEP, including the wider application of vaccines and the cost reductions in HIV programming that would be provided by vaccines over time. Muturi-Kioi also provides an update on the scientific progress being made toward an HIV vaccine and provides insights into his own career path in HIV research.

IAVI Africa commemorated World AIDS Day by hosting a media café for health and science reporters in Kenya on November 20 in collaboration with MESHA (Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture) — a network of journalists covering health, environment, technology, and agriculture. This early engagement aimed to give journalists ample time to prepare in-depth articles ahead of December 1. Muturi-Kioi facilitated a session on discovery medicine vaccine trials and broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs). The session, requested by journalists, sought to bridge knowledge gaps and enhance their capacity to report effectively, building public interest and support for bnAbs as a promising strategy for HIV prevention and therapy with the potential for long-term viral suppression.

IAVI was also represented at the World AIDS Day 2024 Half Marathon in Nairobi, hosted by the Kenyan Ministry of Health on December 1. The event raised awareness of and support for essential health programs addressing the triple threat of new HIV infections, unintended pregnancies, and sexual and gender-based violence. IAVI’s founding mission was to produce a safe, effective, and globally accessible HIV vaccine. Today, despite a broader mandate, HIV prevention research remains core to our organization’s strategy and focus. This World AIDS Day, we commemorate the tragic personal impacts the HIV pandemic has wrought for so many families around the globe and remain resolute in our commitment to advance, together with our partners, ambitious HIV prevention research, which holds much promise for a future without the ravages of the HIV pandemic.