Build on HIV investments for future pandemic preparedness

Collins, Chris; Isbell, Michael T.; Ratevosian, Jirair; Beyrer, Chris; Karim, Quarraisha Abdool; Maleche, Allan; Sohn, Annette H.

doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007980

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Effective HIV triple drug treatment was available in the Global North starting in 1996 but it took until 2003 for serious efforts to address HIV in the Global South, with public pressure from scientists, such as Dr Paul Farmer, and activists globally contributing to commuting HIV from a death sentence to a chronic disease. The HIV response has often been at the vanguard in establishing models for ensuring equitable access to rights-based services and serving the most vulnerable 48…”

Section: Our Proposalmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Lessons learnt from COVID-19 to reduce mortality and morbidity in the Global South: addressing global vaccine equity for future pandemics

Martin,

Maleche,

Gay

et al. 2024

BMJ Glob Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

COVID-19, which killed more than 6 million people, will not be the last pandemic. Vaccines are key to preventing and ending pandemics. Therefore, it is critical to move now, before the next pandemic, towards global vaccine equity with shared goals, intermediate steps and long-term advocacy goals. Scientific integrity, ethical development, transparency, accountability and communication are critical. Countries can draw on lessons learnt from their response to the HIV pandemics, which has been at the vanguard of ensuring equitable access to rights-based services, to create shared goals and engage communities to increase access to and delivery of safe, quality vaccines. Access can be increased by: fostering the spread of mRNA intellectual property (IP) rights, with mRNA vaccine manufacturing on more continents; creating price transparency for vaccines; creating easily understandable, accessible and transparent data on vaccines; creating demand for a new international legal framework that allows IP rights to be waived quickly once a global pandemic is identified; and drawing on scientific expertise from around the world. Delivery can be improved by: creating strong public health systems that can deliver vaccines through the lifespan; creating or strengthening national regulatory agencies and independent national scientific advisory committees for vaccines; disseminating information from reliable, transparent national and subnational surveillance systems; improving global understanding that as more scientific data become available, this may result in changes to public health guidance; prioritising access to vaccines based on scientific criteria during an epidemic; and developing strategies to vaccinate those at highest risk with available vaccines.

show abstract

Section: Our Proposalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The HIV response has often been at the vanguard in establishing models for ensuring equitable access to rights-based services and serving the most vulnerable. 48 …”

Section: Our Proposalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lessons learnt from COVID-19 to reduce mortality and morbidity in the Global South: addressing global vaccine equity for future pandemics

Martin,

Maleche,

Gay

et al. 2024

BMJ Glob Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…At its height, the HIV epidemic caused unprecedented declines in life expectancy across sub-Saharan Africa [15]. HIV elicited a response that was arguably unique in the annals of global health -prioritizing human rights and gender equality, welcoming the leadership of communities and people living with HIV, drawing on principles of global solidarity and shared responsibility to mobilize unprecedented financial resources, building on inclusive health governance, and aiming for universal access to the fruits of scientific research [16][17][18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging the HIV response to strengthen pandemic preparedness

Collins

Isbell²,

Karim

et al. 2023

PLOS Glob Public Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The COVID-19 pandemic and the expectation of future pandemic threats have generated a global dialogue on strengthening pandemic preparedness and response (PPR). Thus far, this dialogue has largely failed to fully consider the critical role that established, disease-specific programs played in national and regional COVID-19 responses, and the potential for these programs to contribute to stronger pandemic preparedness for the future. The HIV response is an important example of a global health initiative that is already making substantial contributions to PPR. Both the infrastructure and core principles of the HIV response have much to contribute towards pandemic preparedness that is more effective and equitable than seen in the response to COVID-19. This review examines how HIV-related resources and principles can support communities and countries in being better prepared for emerging disease threats, with a specific focus on evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the current literature, the review explores the clear, multi-faceted intersection between the HIV response and the central elements of pandemic preparedness in areas including surveillance; supply chain; primary care; health care workforce; community engagement; biomedical research; universal access without discrimination; political leadership; governance; and financing. There are many opportunities to be more strategic and purposeful in leveraging HIV programs and approaches for preparedness. Avoiding the longstanding temptation in global health to create new siloes, PPR initiatives, including the new Pandemic Fund at the World Bank, should invest in and build out from existing programs that are already making health systems more inclusive and resilient, including the global response to HIV.

show abstract

“…Substantial evidence indicates HIV investments have yielded important benefits for the world’s response to COVID-19 1 2. HIV research provided the foundation for COVID-19 vaccines3 4; health surveillance systems in southern Africa, built in part through HIV funding, provided early warnings regarding SARS-CoV-2 variants5; and HIV service and clinical trial sites, diagnostic platforms and community systems rapidly pivoted to address both HIV and COVID-19 6…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%