Affiliated Independent Events

The relationship between HIV and mental disorders is complex and can be reciprocal. Individuals living with HIV who also have undiagnosed mental conditions and are not receiving treatment can experience disruptions in their HIV stability. In 2024, the Mexican Medical Association for HIV/AIDS launched the first edition of a course focused on mental health and HIV. This year, in alignment with the Association's mission, we will conduct a second two-day course on mental health and HIV for medical and paramedical professionals who provide care to people living with HIV in public institutions in Mexico. The course aims to update participants on mental health issues, including the clinical identification of mental conditions and substance use among people living with HUV.

This year's academic programme will cover such topics as sexual behaviour and HIV exposure among trans men, vulnerability and psychosocial factors affecting women living with HIV, clinical assessments for sexualized drug use, and the neurotoxicity of new antiretroviral treatment regimens. The speakers are experts from various health fields, including psychiatrists, infectious disease specialists and psychologists, all of whom possess extensive clinical and academic experience. They are well-known and respected figures in the HIV field in Mexico. 

Visible and Vital is more than a conversation. It is a powerful act of reclamation, healing and imagination. This event centres trans and gender-diverse people not as statistics or passive recipients, but as leaders and architects of HIV justice in the global HIV response from prevention and even care. 

Too often, visibility is mistaken for inclusion. But visibility without safety, resources and power is not justice; it is exposure. This gathering dares to go deeper, exploring what it truly means to be visible in systems that are often unjust and unwelcoming, and how to demand HIV justice that is gender-affirming, intersectional and rooted in bodily autonomy and dignity.  

Event activities and agenda highlights 

• Opening circle: Grounding in collective care 
• A space to honour trans resilience and frame the event’s vision in the context of the global HIV response for trans and gender non-conforming people Community-led conversations
  Engaging, moderated dialogues with trans people and health experts to unpack current gaps, barriers and opportunities in HIV prevention in the context of gender-affirming services for trans people 
• Storytelling and creative resistance
  Artistic and narrative expression as tools for HIV advocacy, healing and visibility 
• Regional dialogue circles
  Group discussions exploring local and regional contexts, needs and HIV solutions
• Manifesto co-creation workshop
  A collaborative session to develop a Manifesto for Gender-Affirming HIV Prevention, a living call to action grounded in love, safety and accountability 

Vital gender-affirming HIV justice means transforming healthcare systems, decriminalizing identity and survival, funding community-led HIV solutions, and centring those most impacted in shaping HIV research, policy and programming. 

Because visibility is not enough, HIV justice is vital, and it begins with us. 

It is not the absence of science-based tools that has failed the Global South in responding to health epidemics (be it infectious diseases or non-communicable diseases), but deep-rooted inequities and injustices that plague our so-called “world order”. We also saw during the COVID-19 pandemic that multilateralism has failed the Global South. For example, when rich nations had procured and stocked COVID-19 vaccines MANY TIMES more than their population needed (and threw them away after expiry), there were people and countries in the Global South yet to receive a dose.

If we are to deliver on promises enshrined in SDG 3 related to HIV and TB and other health issues, we must strengthen competencies and capacities in the Global South.

The year 2025 marks the historic point when the Global Fund procured Africa-made lifesaving antiretroviral therapies from UCL Kenya to be delivered to Mozambique.

Another highlight of 2025 is that the Africa CDC and Unitaid have formed a strategic partnership at WHA78 (May 2025) to expand the production of essential health products in Africa and improve sustainable access to medicines, diagnostics and medical oxygen across the continent. Africa bears 25% of the global disease burden, yet imports more than 95% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients and 70% of the medicines it consumes. 

This session will bring leaders on the frontline at all levels (local, sub-national, national, regional and global) together along with affected communities to find person-centred solutions to expanding access to health technologies with equity, rights and human dignity. 

TB and HIV are entirely preventable and curable. We have science-based tools recommended by WHO to ensure that NO ONE acquires HIV or TB or dies of related causes.

But progress in the Global North versus the Global South is NOT equal. TB and HIV rates have dipped in the Global North, but in the Global South, they continue to be major epidemics.

This session will present ground-up experiences of addressing TB and HIV in a person-centred manner in Africa. This will be an Africa-focused session led by Tariro Kutadza, noted TB and HIV community-rights leader and founding head of TB People (Zimbabwe) and partners. 

The event will look at current challenges and gaps in antenatal care, effective solutions to eliminate vertical transmission of HIV, and policy implementation to scale up antenatal care in Nigeria.

Speakers: Fuhad Adedayo (Moderator), Williams Ajayi (Speaker 1) & Abdulquadri Mutiat (Speaker 2)

Community engagement is a critical element of HIV and TB research. Active participation in research by people living with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) ensures that research is relevant, ethical, responsive to needs of participants, and makes researchers answerable for their actions. However, implementation of community engagement is variable across different settings, making it difficult to achieve its goals.  

This webinar will demonstrate, through sharing best practices, how community-driven approaches improve the relevance, effectiveness and impact of HIV and TB research studies. We will share practical examples of co-production, community-led research and community-led monitoring. We will also look at how these have begun to shift the power imbalance between researchers and the community in research design, implementation and governance. 

Objectives: 

• Demonstrate how meaningful, ethical and impactful partnerships with communities in HIV and TB research can be achieved. 
• Share strategies for developing and nurturing research and advocacy skills in community members for improved research oversight.  
• Share testimonials by people living with HIV, community advisory board members and community peer researchers to demonstrate how community involvement strengthens research relevance, equity and impact. 

Speakers: 

Musonda Simwinga, Community engagement lead, Zambart
Monde Mwanda, Community engagement coordinator, Zambart
Steve Belemu, Community engagement coordinator, Zambart
Isaac Mshanga, Community engagement coordinator, Zambart