“Women at the center”: L’Initiative announces a pre-conference on cervical cancer ahead of AIDS 2024

Ahead of the 25th International AIDS Society conference in Munich, L’Initiative is pleased to invite you to the pre-conference “Women at the centre: Integrating prevention, treatment and care for HIV and cervical cancer” as part of the SUCCESS project, an innovative programme dedicated to the fight against cervical cancer, which we are supporting. Co-organised by L’Initiative-Expertise France, Unitaid, l’OMS, Jhpiego, CHAI, Frontline AIDS and ACHA, it will take place on Sunday 21 July 2024 from 8.00am to 7.30pm in Hall B0a/Channel 4 of Messe München in Munich.

The recent years marked a remarkable increase in efforts made by countries and partners to build on the successes of the HIV response and integrate cervical cancer vaccination, screening, and treatment services with those for HIV treatment and care to save and improve lives.

This one-day event aims to enrich further the dialogue between countries, communities, researchers, implementers, and advocates working within the HIV and cervical cancer response to strengthen alignment and collaborations and maximize the combined potential of these efforts.

The event will highlight successful models and unpack challenges and opportunities, including innovation, to build sustainable, integrated, and women-centered solutions for achieving integration on various levels, including policy, community engagement, implementation, and resource mobilization. The event will also provide some insights into current trends and options for managing other HPV-related cancers affecting people living with HIV.

Find out about the sessions

Session 1: Update on cervical cancer elimination initiative, six years of implementation, with focus on impact on women living with HIV

08:00-09:00am, Hall B0a/Channel 4
This session will provide updates on the global landscape on progress and challenges of cervical cancer elimination initiative since its launch in 2018.

Session 2: Lessons learned, best practices and recommendations for implementing an integrated, people-centered cervical cancer program

09:30-11:00am, Hall B0a/Channel 4
Implementation experiences including achievements, challenges and recommendations to move forward from the two programs supported by Unitaid, SUCCESS and CHAI cervical cancer project will be shared. Partners from Ministry of Health of several countries will engage in a panel discussion to provide perspectives of transitioning from VIA screening test to HPV testing, benefits, cost implication and laboratory integration for HPV testing.

Session 3: Bridging HIV and cervical cancer screening, treatment and care, view from national programs

11:30-12:30am, Hall B0a/Channel 4
The key for a successful integration of cervical cancer screening, treatment and care for women living with HIV lies on the coordination and cooperation between national HIV program and national programs in charge of cervical cancer prevention. In this session, we invite these programs to unpack challenges faced, proposed solution for the integrated models and share their vision on scalability.

Session 4: Ensuring a people-centered approach: voice of the civil society

1:30-2:30pm, Hall B0a/Channel 4
Civil society organizations from both HIV and cancer worlds to bring testimony from the women whose lives are affected by cervical cancer, the importance of community-led approaches, and gaps and actions needed to move towards a global movement for cervical cancer elimination for the most at risk populations.

Session 5 : Pipeline technologies and global evidence on cervical cancer for women living with HIV and key populations and other HPV associated cancers

3:00-4:30pm, Hall B0a/Channel 4
In this session, we will dive into evidence on interventions of cervical cancer secondary prevention for women living with HIV and key populations. The audience will gain insight into pipeline technologies such as AI-based tools and therapeutic vaccines under development. Several countries will share their experiences with AI-based cervical cancer secondary prevention tools.

Session 6: Scaling up cervical cancer prevention – resource mobilization and opportunities for integrated financing

5:00-6:00pm, Hall B0a/Channel 4
Following the commitments announced at the first Global Cervical Cancer Elimination Forum: Advancing the Call to Action in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia (March 2024), we aim to dive deeper and explore the landscape of resources for cervical cancer prevention notably for women living with HIV.

Session 7 : Sharing stories from the frontline –Cervical Cancer and HIV/AIDS Comorbidity: The Urgent Need for Grassroots Action

6:30-7:30pm, Hall B0a/Channel 4
The fireside chat will explore the unique challenges and experiences of individuals living with both cervical cancer and HIV/AIDS. It will bring together a panel of survivors, caregivers, advocates and medical experts to share their perspectives and insights. This powerful discussion will shed light on an important but often overlooked intersection of the two disease burdens, highlighting the role of survivors and advocacy actors in reducing stigma and fear, to increase uptake of preventive services. It aims to educate, inspire, and advocate for urgent action in bringing survivors to the forefront for improved care, support and uptake of preventive services.