Published on 19 December 2023 | Sarah Hand, Lucy Gale and Tinashe Madamombe

Under the theme, AIDS is not over, Avert joined over 7,000 delegates at the 22nd Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) held in Harare, Zimbabwe, in early December. At the conference Avert presented some of the learning coming out of our programmes and partnerships work, as well as contributing to the wider conference debate. Here we look at some of the highlights.

Sharing learning from our partnership work

Alongside Zimbabwe NGO OPHID, we shared our learnings from rolling out Boost, our digital job-aide for community health workers (CHWs). At a key plenary on day two, Dr Karen Webb (OPHID’s Deputy Executive Director) presented findings from their use of Boost with OPHID’s cadre of CHWs. She shared how Boost and its screening tools are supporting more effective and timely referrals to health facilities, providing a clear example of how digital tools can support CHWs’ roles and improve health for communities.

We joined colleagues from Frontline AIDS and LVCT Health to shine a much-needed spotlight on female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) and amplify the call for FGS to be part of an integrated approach to women’s health. We need to ensure that this neglected tropical disease that affects 52 million women in Africa is integrated alongside sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and HIV services.

We also shared learning from across our wider programme of work through abstract presentations on the work we have done with VSO in Mozambique to co-create an audio life skills application for low-literacy young women who have not had the opportunity of school; as well as on our digital sexual health brand Be in the KNOW and our pleasure-based approach to sexual health content.

Picture of the Avert team at ICASA 2023 - Sarah Hand, Lucy Gale and Tinashe Madamombe

Key takeaways from the 2023 conference

Within the wider conference, presentations delivered from countries across Africa highlighted that while unimaginable levels of progress have been achieved since the first biennial conference was held in 1994, AIDS is clearly not over. Issues including stigma, gender inequality, marginalisation, poverty, poor leadership and financing are continuing to slow progress. These issues are stalling vital work to prevent infections and ensure those living with HIV have access to treatment, are virally supressed and live a life with dignity and respect.

During the opening ceremony UNAIDS Director Winnie Byanyima stressed that at this critical juncture in the HIV response, community leadership is vital:

“When community-led organisations are supported politically and financially to accelerate their life-saving work, the end result can be an end to AIDS as a public health threat. An AIDS-free world is possible, but only if communities lead.”

When community-led organisations are supported politically and financially to accelerate their life-saving work, the end result can be an end to AIDS as a public health threat. An AIDS-free world is possible, but only if communities lead.

While community leadership remained a key theme, many presenters, including organisations working with Y+ Global under the Her Voice Fund, stressed the importance of meaningful engagement, drawing attention to the fact that this must not be tokenistic. Women and girls remain disproportionally affected in Africa, where 3,100 young women and girls became infected with HIV every week in 2022. And while in 2022 the world saw the first annual decline in new infections since the start of the epidemic in the 1980s, the impact on young people, particularly girls in Africa, still needs to be addressed.

Our partners Frontline AIDS were at the conference highlighting the work they have been doing to produce the HIV Prevention Shadow Reports. These reports track countries’ progress against key barriers outlined in the HIV prevention 2020 road map, agreed by the Global HIV Prevention Coalition, and developed in partnership with community organisations. The reports shed light on areas often neglected by ‘official’ HIV reporting. Frontline AIDS are calling for “precision prevention” efforts and strategies that are targeted to ensure the greatest chance of success.

There was also much discussion around finding new ways to increase demand and access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) – a critical step towards breaking the cycle of new infections. Several sessions highlighted the work already being done to leverage communications for advocating PrEP, particularly through youth brands such as MTV Shuga, while recognising the need for supply to meet demand in responsible communications strategies.

The HIV sector remains one of the most progressive, agitated, committed and effective sectors tackling a health crisis that the world has seen. The collaboration between politics, science, communities and financial institutions was visible throughout the conference. With community leadership, and political will, we can continue to make progress towards ending AIDS by 2030.