Biomedical HIV prevention research and development in Africa.

The research and development process for new HIV prevention technologies is a global enterprise and most parts of Africa, have been actively involved in the identification and development of effective methods. The new tools for HIV prevention currently under development include vaccines, topical microbicides such as gels, creams and foams that can be applied to the vagina or rectum prior to sexual intercourse. Male medical circumcision, the use of antiretroviral drugs to prevent acquisition of HIV infection (pre-exposure prophylaxis PrEP), and the use of antiretroviral drugs to reduce transmission of HIV infection (Treatment as prevention – TasP) have also proven to be effective. In November 2013, the New HIV Vaccine and Microbicide Advocacy Society (NHVMAS) of Nigeria, in collaboration with the World AIDS Campaign (WAC) and the Institute of Public Health, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nigeria, convened an international gathering of community activists and advocacy groups, scientific investigators and donors to review the progress as well as the obstacles to progress, in the global endeavour to achieving biomedical HIV prevention. The 2013 Biomedical HIV Prevention Forum (BHPF), the first of a series of conferences on biomedical HIV prevention research and development in Africa, took place in Abuja, from November 18 – 20, 2013. It provided a much valued forum for international and regional researchers, programme managers, policy makers, advocates and stakeholders to share insights on the current biomedical prevention research agenda and recent findings, policy and programme implications which it is hoped, will inform policy formulation, policy review and programme implementation globally. NHVMAS is committed to advocacy for the ethical conduct of research and the roll-out of scientifically proven HIV prevention strategies and methods that are acceptable for use by different populations around the world to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Currently available research-based prevention strategies have already contributed to the maintenance of low infection rates in a number of settings and to declining HIV epidemics in specific populations around the world. However, in resource-constrained countries, particularly in Africa, novel prevention strategies are needed for reducing new infections where there is limited access to health care and affordable antiretroviral drugs. These must be based on ethical conduct of research, clinical trials and programmatic interventions, to ensure that the most infected and affected populations are served in the most humane and equitable ways possible. This special edition of the African Journal of Reproductive Health includes 14 publications from the presentations at the meeting. These cover a comprehensive range of issues including discussions on promising biomedical and behavioural HIV prevention interventions in clinical trials and effective ways to translate new knowledge into practice. The necessity for concerted efforts to end the HIV epidemic was echoed at the end of the meeting with a call by the Civil Society coalition made to African governments to prioritize HIV prevention and development in the post 2015 health agenda for the region.