WRI 2018 - Undetectable=Untransmittable: Contextualizing a Campaign in the Lives of Women Living with and Vulnerable to HIV

Submitted on Jun 25, 2018

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The WRI 2018 focused on the messages and campaigns around Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U), specifically contextualizing what it means for women. While the message of U=U is being broadly accepted and adopted by agencies, organizations and authorities around the world, we sought to address issues specific to women. These issues are varied and intrinsically related to the complex dynamics of women’s lives, including relationships, sexuality, poverty/access to treatment, attention to health and well-being, stigma and more.

The WRI 2018 featured presentations by experts examining potential opportunities and challenges of U=U for women, using a cross-disciplinary approach. The meeting reviewed the science and evidence behind U=U and delved into current efforts to disseminate these messages, identifying successes and continuing challenges. The group was focused on what U=U means for women, from the biology of breastfeeding to power dynamics in women’s relationships. The WRI 2018 highlighted the role of U=U in battling stigma and discussed important considerations related to U=U, including the impact on women who inject drugs or whose partners do so, as well as the role and impact of policy efforts on U=U. The meeting also focused on how the WRI can ensure that women are included in messaging around U=U and how to address what may be particularly nuanced messages on the topic.

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View the 2018 WRI Issue Brief: Undetectable=Untransmittable: Contextualizing a Campaign in the Lives of Women Living with and Vulnerable to HIV

View photos from the 2018 WRI meeting on our Facebook page

Key Questions

Meeting participants were asked to address a number of critical questions throughout the course of the meeting:

  • What does U=U mean for women?
  • What gaps exist in our knowledge of how U=U impacts women?
  • Are women receiving the U=U message? If so, from whom and in what ways?
  • How do relationship power dynamics affect U=U and how can we best advise women to make their own informed choices?
  • What considerations around U=U need to be addressed when reaching out specifically to women?
  • What can each of us personally do in our work environment to advance the ideas generated at this WRI meeting?

2018 WRI meeting participants

Erika Aaron, MSN

Philadelphia Department of Health
Ada Adimora, MD

UNC School of Medicine
Shannon Allen, PhD

American Association for the Advancement of Science
Judith D. Auerbach, PhD*

University of California San Francisco
Dawn Averitt*

Women's Research Initiative on HIV/AIDS
Jared Baeten, MD, PhD

University of Washington
John Brooks, MD

Centers for Disease Control
Gina Brown, MD*
Gina Brown, MSW

Southern AIDS Coalition
Jenna Conley*

Women's Research Initiative on HIV/AIDS
Elizabeth Connick, MD

University of Arizona
Susan Cu-Uvin, MD

Brown University
Antigone Dempsey

HRSA/HAB
Dazon Dixon Diallo, DHL, MPH

SisterLove, Inc.
Karine Dube, DrPh

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Lisa Fitzpatrick, MD, MPH, MPA*

PPH, Inc.
Carrie Foote, PhD

HIV Modernization Movement - Indiana IUPUI Sociology
Rowena Johnston, PhD

amfAR
Jennifer Kates, PhD*

Kaiser Family Foundation
Naina Khanna

PWN-USA
Melissa Koomey

Gilead Sciences
Carmen Logie, PhD

University of Toronto
Edward Machtinger, MD

University of California San Francisco
Krista Martel*

The Well Project
Bruce Richman

Prevention Access Campaign/U=U
Jessica Salzwedel

AVAC
Lena Serghides, PhD

University Health Network
Adam Shprecher, PharmD

Janssen
Kathleen Squires, MD

Merck & Co Inc.
Vani Vannappagari, PhD, MPH, MBBS

ViiV Healthcare
Fulvia Veronese, PhD

DAIDS, NIAID, NIH
Celeste Watkins-Hayes, PhD

Northwestern University
Shannon Weber, MSW

UCSF/HIVE, Please PrEPMe.org
Andrea Weddle, MSW

HIV Medicine Association
Charles Wira, PhD*

Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Carmen Zorrilla, MD

UPR School of Medicine

*2018 Advisory Board Member

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