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Activities & Workshops
Consultation on Operationalizing Access to HIV Treatment & Care, Washington DC, USA, 19th - 20th June 2008
On June 19th and 20th, the Global Campaign for Microbicides hosted a technical consultation to look at the problem of ensuring access to long-term treatment and care for participants who become HIV infected during the course of an HIV prevention trial. This consultation brought together a large group of stakeholders – prevention researchers, study sponsors, policymakers, treatment and prevention advocates, and experts in health care financing and insurance – to identify and tackle some of the challenges associated with operationalizing access to treatment and care, particularly in those countries where large-scale public HIV treatment programmes are overburdened, underfunded, or do not exist.
For more detailed information on the programme and to view the PowerPoint presentations given during the meeting, please click here.
Consultation on ethical-legal concerns in HIV vaccine and microbicide trial, Durban, South Africa, 5 - 6 September 2007
On 5-6 September, the HIV AIDS Vaccines Ethics Group (HAVEG) of the University of KwaZulu-Natal hosted a meeting in Durban, South Africa to examine the scientific, ethical, and legal issues associated with enrolling adolescents in HIV vaccine and microbicide research. The Global Campaign for Microbicides co-sponsored and provided funding for the event, which was the first time that vaccine and microbicide researchers, policymakers and regulators, advocates, and community members (including two teenagers who serve on community advisory boards) gathered together to explore these issues.
For more information about the adolescent consult meeting, please visit http://www.global-campaign.org/consult-Ethical&LegalSept07.htm
International Consultation on Ethical Issues in the Clinical Testing of Microbicides Washington, DC October 2003
This consultation brought together over 70 individuals from 14 different countries to discuss and debate issues related to the design and conduct of microbicide trials, especially those that take place in resource poor settings. The Consultation was designed to explore issues still under active debate in the microbicide community: how to operationalise “informed consent”; how to foster male involvement without compromising women’s autonomy; the “standard of care” provided to participants in microbicide trials, both primary care and highly active anti-retroviral treatment (HAART). Participants also considered issues likely to be relevant in the near future. For example, how can we collect safety and efficacy data about microbicide use among younger women and girls, who are below the legal age of independent consent to participate in medical research in many settings, and yet are likely to be users of microbicides? Or, what will be the approach to trial design should a first candidate prove to be partially effective yet less than ideal?
A CD of presentations from the consultation is available from the Global Campaign. (contact us).
Read the Report. Rethinking the Ethical Roadmap for Clinical Testing of Microbicides: A Report on an International Consultation
Dialogue on Community Involvement in Microbicide Trials in Southern Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa July 2003
This meeting was co-convened by the Global Campaign and the South African Microbicide Research Initiative (SAMRI). The Dialogue brought together community outreach staff from eight research sites in four countries in southern Africa, marking the first time that community involvement in microbicide trials has been specifically considered across various networks. Thirty-five participants shared experiences and challenges from ongoing community involvement operations in their sites. Together they developed responses to some of the more challenging issues, and discussed various approaches to community involvement in microbicide research. Structured first of all as an exchange of experiences to-date, the Dialogue also involved extensive discussion of emerging practices, unresolved questions, and future directions for community involvement in microbicide trials.
For the meeting report, please 
Click here.
Consultation on HIV Treatment in Vaccine and Microbicide Trials, Washington DC, February 2003
A diverse group of researchers, clinicians, ethicists and advocates met for a consultation on HIV treatment in the context of prevention trials, co-organized by the Global Campaign for Microbicides and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).
Several factors prompted this meeting. Global access to highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-infected adults and children is increasing, and the costs associated with these medicines are dropping. New funding streams, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) are helping to put ARVs within reach of more countries where sophisticated AIDS treatment has historically been considered unfeasible.
At the same time, microbicides and vaccines are moving from small-scale Phase 1 trials to larger, community-based efficacy and effectiveness trials, which will screen and enroll thousands of volunteers. The majority of these trials will take place in resource-poor settings where provision of ART exists on a pilot basis, if at all.
Against this backdrop, those involved in HIV prevention trials, including studies of vaccines, microbicides and behavioral interventions, have focused increased attention on the type of care offered to trial participants, their families and their communities, particularly HIV-positive individuals within these groups.
Key questions include: What constitutes an acceptable basic package of care to be provided to individuals who become HIV-positive during the course of a prevention trial? Should this care also be made available to participants’ family members and the wider community? Do trial sponsors have an obligation to provide ART to any or all of these groups? If so, does the obligation extend beyond the duration of the trial? Who should be expected to pay for care once a trial is finished?
For the meeting report, please Click here
Trainings
The Global Campaign includes an overview of ethical issues relevant to microbicide clinical trials as part of our advocates’ trainings and skills-building workshops. For the latest version of the Ethics Module, please 
click here.
The Global Campaign offers a participatory course for advocates on applying ethical reasoning to microbicide trial issues.
Please contact us at info@global-campaign.org