It’s a wrap on day two! IAVI’s second day of #AIDS2024 began with an early morning session on “Advancing Community Engagement in HIV Prevention/Implementation Research.” The session explored effective practices and tools, highlighted gaps, and identified future directions for enhancing community engagement in HIV prevention and implementation research.
Presenters from IAVI and partners, including APCOM Foundation, the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research India, RD Rwanda, and the Centre for Sexuality & Health Research and Policy India, shared insights from their work. They discussed what has worked, current activities, and future needs, focusing on MSM, FSW, and other key populations.
The session acknowledged that effective community involvement is essential for successful and ethically robust studies, and that strong community engagement enhances understanding, appreciation, and participation in HIV research. IAVI’s Smriti Bhagi, who shared learnings from HIV prevention research in India, emphasized that co-creation is the fulcrum for equitable research partnerships with vulnerable communities.
Our second day also featured three fantastic IAVI poster presentations:
· Joyeeta Mukherjee presented ‘Mental models reflect continued demand and unique value of vaccines for HIV prevention: insights from an end-user study in India, Uganda, and South Africa’
· Shweta Chatrath presented ‘Including pregnant and breast-feeding mothers in HIV prevention trials’
· Paromita Saha presented ‘Enhanced HIV science literacy and improved motivation towards participation in biomedical research among key communities in India—the role of gamification and experiential-learning based interventions’
During the satellite session ‘Reaching the unreached: experiences and strategies in engaging hard-to-reach communities in virtual and physical spaces,’ hosted by our partners at the Humsafar Trust, presenters brought to light the potential of digital tools to reach some of the hardest-to-reach communities in India. IAVI’s Paromita Saha spoke about the power of gamification to share health information with young people. IAVI’s Joyeeta Mukherkjee was happy to contribute to a roundtable discussion about the most effective approaches for engaging hard-to-reach populations, where trust is so important.
Stay tuned for our insights from day three!