The Drum Beat 766 - Communication Threads in UNAIDS Strategic Priorities

• 1. Supporting Children, Adolescents and Young People Living with HIV to Start and Stay on HIV Treatment
  by Kate Iorpenda, Georgina Caswell, Matteo Cassolato, and Cecilia KiharaAs this International HIV/AIDS Alliance case study explains, numerous barriers - including stigma - mean adolescents are far less likely to be on antiretroviral treatment (ART) or virologically suppressed than adults living with HIV. The case study describes the work of Africaid Zvandiri's team of Community Adolescents Treatment Supporters (CATS), who are adolescents and young people (ages 18-24) living with HIV. They support 0- to 24-year-olds to begin ART and remain on treatment by providing peer-led, adolescent-focused information, counselling, and support. CATS are also involved in local, national, and global advocacy work. [Jan 2018]
   
• 2. Key Barriers to Women's Access to HIV Treatment
  In collaboration with UN Women, the ATHENA Network, AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), and Salamander Trust undertook a multistage review of the global status of women's access to ART. The participatory approaches used in this review placed women living with HIV in leadership roles in designing, implementing, and reviewing findings. Highlighting the experiences of women living with HIV accessing treatment and quality care, the review is informed by a gender-responsive and human-rights-based framework to explore the micro-, meso-, and macro-level factors that impact women's experiences of treatment availability and their decision-making processes around its uptake. Community dialogues highlighted facilitators to treatment access such as building trusting relationships with health providers, as well as peer-led treatment literacy and support groups, with these interactions directly linked to accessing and remaining on ART over time. [Dec 2017]
   
• 3. Clinic-Community Collaboration Toolkit: Working Together to Improve PMTCT and Paediatric HIV Treatment, Care and Support [and Be Connected E-Learning Course]
  Noting that half of children living with HIV do not receive ART, the Paediatric-Adolescent Treatment Africa (PATA) and Positive Action for Children Fund (PACF) have worked across 9 countries in Africa through their partnership on the 3-year C³ programme on collaboration between clinics and community-based organisations (CBOs) to deliver services together for improved prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT)-paediatric case finding and HIV treatment. This toolkit aims to scale these results by providing a step-by-step guide to assist health providers, community-based staff, and local coordinators to initiate, expand and improve upon joint activities and action plans based on the 3-year C³ experience. It is accompanied by Be Connected, an e-learning course informed by the C³ programme's successes and lessons learnt. [Nov 2017]
   

• 4. Effective Use of Digital Platforms for HIV Prevention among Men Who Have Sex with Men in the European Union/European Economic Area: ECDC Guides
  by Cary James, Calum McSwigga,Takudzwa Mukiw, Arjan Van Bijnen, and Koenraad VermeCommissioned by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and created in collaboration with the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) and STI AIDS Netherlands (SANL), this series provides guides to the effective use of digital platforms for sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV prevention among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA). The 7 guides, each of which can be used on its own or as part of a wider online strategy, incorporate the expertise of stakeholders from EU/EEA Member States, scientific literature relating to social media and digital platforms, commercial sector best practice, and engagement with the platform companies themselves. [Dec 2017]
   
• 5. Miles to Go - Closing Gaps, Breaking Barriers, Righting Injustices
  This UNAIDS report catalogues the emerging evidence and strategic, often communication-centred, approaches that show that empowerment and inclusion are as real as technical innovations, and they deliver measurable results. Part I reviews data on progress towards Fast-Track commitments, looking at these topics in turn: the state of the epidemic; combination HIV prevention; 90-90-90; eliminating mother-to-child HIV transmission; AIDS out of isolation; and investment. In addition to data, one learns about initiatives such as DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe), which provides intensive combination prevention programme packages in communities with high HIV incidence in 15 countries. These packages include elements to empower young women, reduce risk involved in sexual partnerships, mobilise communities, and strengthen family support systems. [Aug 2018]
   
• 6. Vulnerable Youth as Prosumers in HIV Prevention: Studies Using Participatory Action Research
  by Cath Conn, Shoba Nayar, Dinar Lubis, Carol Maibvisira, and Kristel ModdermanDrawing on 4 cases of research from Africa and South East Asia, this paper discusses the possibilities for youth "prosumerism" as a participation mechanism in HIV prevention, particularly in light of new opportunities arising from a digital society. This paper explores the possibilities offered by widening access to technology for vulnerable youth to participate in HIV prevention - as prosumers (that is, as being active in seeking empowerment and change); as codesigners of educational tools; and as collaborators and networkers sharing stories and views. [Jul-Sep 2017]
   

• 7. Youth and HIV - Mainstreaming a Three-Lens Approach to Youth Participation
  According to UNAIDS and the data shared throughout the document, young people face substantive challenges to access HIV and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, including inequalities, discrimination, exclusion, and violence. Harmful laws and policies such as age of consent requirements to access SRH services, HIV testing, and treatment are among the challenges. Grounded in the conviction that participation and inclusion are core human rights principles, this UNAIDS report presents a 3-lens approach to youth participation in the HIV response that centres on: working for youth as beneficiaries, engaging with youth as partners, and supporting youth as leaders. [Jul 2018]
   
• 8. HIV and Young People Who Sell Sex
  by Alice Armstrong, James Baer, Rachel Baggaley, and Annette VersterThis technical brief from the World Health Organization (WHO) aims to catalyse and inform discussions about how best to provide services, programmes, and support for young people who sell sex, who are often marginalised and disengaged from services due to fear of legal sanctions. It offers an account of: current knowledge concerning the HIV risk and vulnerability of young people who sell sex; the barriers and constraints they face to accessing appropriate services; examples of programmes that may work well in addressing their needs and rights; and approaches and considerations for providing services that both draw upon and build the strengths, competencies, and capacities of young people who sell sex. [Jul 2015]
   
• 9. UNAIDS Gender Action Plan 2018-2023 - A Framework for Accountability
  Recognising the central role of gender in the HIV epidemic and response, the UNAIDS 2016-2021 Strategy: On the Fast-Track to End AIDS names human rights and gender equality as one of its 3 pillars, alongside HIV prevention and treatment, care, and support. In February 2018, UNAIDS announced a 5-point plan to prevent and address all forms of harassment for greater accountability and transparency within UNAIDS, as well as for gender equality in that workplace. The Gender Action Plan 2018-2023 articulates UNAIDS' efforts to create the organisational culture called for by the 5-point plan. [Jun 2018]
   
• See also:
  Right to Health
  
  The Drum Beat 747 - HIV/AIDS Communication and the Right to Health
  

• 10. Creating a Culture of Evidence Use: Using an Innovative Knowledge Translation Platform to Inform HIV/AIDS Programming for Women and Girls
  by Jill Gay, Melanie Croce-Galis, Karen Hardee, and Amelia PeltzThis paper reviews the evidence for how the What Works for Women and Girls: Evidence for HIV/AIDS Interventions knowledge platform has made a difference in the global AIDS response. (Designed to be useful for policymakers, programmers, advocates, and researchers, What Works is a publically accessible, web-based, one-stop shop that features a range of evidence on HIV/AIDS interventions for women and girls.) With an aim to increase use of evidence in policies and programmes to reach women and girls, the paper asks: What difference has What Works made? Has evidence from it informed the policies and programmes of donors? Has it informed national policies and plans? Has it contributed to the information used by civil society organisations (CSOs)? Has access to the What Works website been sufficient, or were other activities needed to enhance the use of the evidence from the website? [Dec 2017]
   
• 11. Understanding Key Terms and Data Related to HIV: Handbook for Adolescents and Young Key Populations at Higher Risk of HIV Exposure in Asia and the Pacific
  by Lisa G. JohnstonDesigned as a comic book for young people between 15 and 24 years of age who are interested in HIV issues and have some basic math skills, this handbook aims to help simplify key questions about HIV terms, data, and statistics. Adolescent and young peer educators, young advocates, and young people involved in HIV programming for young people, including those from key populations at higher risk of HIV exposure, may find it a useful tool in their advocacy work with community and government leaders. It was produced by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO) in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), WHO, UNAIDS, Youth LEAD, and Youth Voices Count.
   
• 12. Applying User-Centered Design to Data Use Challenges: What We Learned
  by Michelle Li, Amanda Makulec, and Tara NutleyThis report describes the design process, activities, and outcomes (prototypes) from a user-centred design activity undertaken by MEASURE Evaluation and the South African design firm Matchboxology (MBX) to strengthen use of data within HIV programmes by understanding the experiences of data users, identifying current barriers facing health information systems (HIS) users, and developing creative solutions for tackling these issues. Most of the prototypes provided solutions to such problems as a lack of communication and feedback regarding data and performance, an inability to access easily interpretable data at lower levels, and a dearth of support for champions of data use. [May 2017]
   

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