Zambia stands at the forefront of a groundbreaking journey in HIV prevention. With its recent accomplishment of being the first country outside the U.S. to administer CAB PrEP, Zambia reaffirms its commitment to advancing access to HIV prevention technologies. However, the successful rollout of such innovations goes beyond product availability.
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I attended CROI 2024 in Denver, Colorado, earlier this month after being awarded a community educator scholarship by the conference. What an amazing experience! I am still digesting all the science and innovation that was presented, but four themes stood out to me. In this post, I share my key takeaways through the lens of a community educator and member of the MOSAIC NextGen Squad.
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During the first two years of MOSAIC, engaging in intentional, principled partnerships with young people has transformed our typical way of working, changing hearts and minds and improving project processes and outcomes.
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When MOSAIC launched, we developed five aspirational principles to guide our work and hold us accountable to the communities we serve. Upholding these principles has led us to have difficult conversations, make challenging decisions, and change how we approach our work on the project for the better. Here we describe how we are putting MOSAIC’s principles into practice.
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Meaningful engagement of young people is a key strategy of the MOSAIC project and CATALYST, its flagship study of choice in HIV prevention. But what does meaningful youth engagement really mean? As a youth representative of MOSAIC’s NextGen Squad and a program coordinator supporting MOSAIC implementation in Namibia, I have had a chance to experience it first-hand.
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Emerging products provide more options and the potential for individuals to find the HIV prevention methods that best suit their needs and preferences. But what does PrEP choice look like, and how can it be protected for all individuals who could benefit from HIV prevention? This blog post presents the choice principles, offers illustrative examples of each principle, and outlines what could come next to advance choice in HIV prevention efforts.
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Expanding access to and uptake of PrEP products among young people, especially adolescent girls and young women, will be key to ending the HIV epidemic. But how do we ensure HIV prevention efforts resonate with and are effective for young millennials and Gen Z? What does meaningful youth engagement in PrEP delivery really mean?
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What sets CATALYST apart is the study’s emphasis on meaningful involvement of young people at every stage of the research to understand end-user perspectives and help tailor the study to meet their needs. This makes us hopeful because the inclusion of young people in the CATALYST journey has not been tokenistic; rather our contributions have been reflected in the whole process so far. In this post, we describe three ways youth have been engaged in CATALYST.
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In this podcast episode, NextGen Squad members answer important questions, noting which youth-led activities USAID should invest in and how HIV programs can better involve youth and youth-led organizations in their work. They also discuss the importance of evaluating impact and share thoughts on utilizing social media to reach young people with key messages about HIV prevention.
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Today, nearly one third of the global population are youth ages 10-29. Their voices and skills help propel USAID’s development work and create positive change in their communities and around the world. In celebration of the first anniversary of USAID’s updated Youth in Development Policy, USAID invited youth leaders and USAID leadership to talk about the importance of youth engagement in the health sector.
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