ANRS MIE at the 27th SFLS conference in Rennes (France)

A session organised by ANRS MIE

How can we bring prevention, care and, more broadly, sexual health to those who remain furthest removed from existing services? The ‘last few kilometres’ are not just geographical, but also social, cultural and administrative. The SFLS conference aims to share resources, experiences and innovations to roll out screening and prevention where people are: pharmacies, charities, workplaces, festivals, etc. It also seeks to innovate in therapeutic support through streamlined pathways, teleconsultations and easier access to treatment.

It is within this framework that ANRS MIE will present the session “The final kilometres: using implementation research to ensuring the success of innovations”.

Context and challenges

The prevention of HIV and STIs rests on three pillars: testing, prevention and treatment. Recent years have seen numerous innovations:

• Testing: a wider range of tools (blood tests, rapid diagnostic tests, self-tests) and methods (with or without a prescription, in healthcare or community settings).
• Prevention: the introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in various forms (continuous, on-demand, and soon extended-release).
• Treatment: a wider range of delivery methods with the introduction of long-acting antiretroviral combinations.

However, these innovations, which, when combined, could bring the HIV epidemic to an end, have not benefited the most affected populations equally. The 2030 target of eliminating new HIV infections and HIV-related deaths remains to be achieved.

Aims of this session

This session aims to present the challenges involved in implementing health innovations across different populations and to showcase research on implementation in the fields of HIV, hepatitis and STIs.