At the 2024 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), researchers and public health experts emphasized the critical role of offering diverse prevention options for HIV, showing that access to various biomedical tools like daily PrEP pills, injectable cabotegravir (CAB), and the dapivirine vaginal ring (DVR) can significantly reduce HIV incidence.
Moses Kamya of Makerere University highlighted findings from the SEARCH Dynamic Choice study conducted in Kenya and Uganda: “CAB-LA is not simply replacing oral PrEP. It’s expanding the pie,” he said, as the study showed a dramatic increase in prevention coverage, reaching 69.7% compared to 13% in standard care, with zero HIV incidence in the study group.
Judith Currier of UCLA stressed the importance of accessibility: “We are learning we have to figure out access in parallel with delivery. Clinics just can’t operationalize these innovations; we have to focus on this more and fund implementation science.”
Studies from Australia and the US similarly reinforced the link between increased PrEP coverage and decreased HIV diagnoses, with Nicholas Medland noting that “as long as you can get PrEP out the door, it works at the population level.”
The conference underscored the need for inclusive research and tailored approaches, with Annette Sohn from amfAR calling for more attention to marginalized populations: “We still routinely have to tell researchers to stop combining data on men who have sex with men and transgender women.”