CAMI International Education and Outreach for MPTs

Your generosity has enabled CAMI to continue its efforts to save lives and empower women and girls. Did you know that each year 1.7 million people die from AIDS, and every 60 seconds a young woman is infected with HIV? And, each year 287,000 women die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. For these and other reasons, women need user-friendly products offering comprehensive protection against sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies.

Your support has furthered our efforts to initiate, educate, and advocate for the accelerated development of Multipurpose Prevention Technologies (MPTs) to protect women’s sexual and reproductive health. We at CAMI want to share our significant accomplishments since our quarterly report in December:

• In January, CAMI hosted a live webinar featuring Dr. Joseph Romano (NWJ Group/CAMI) and Dr. Jim Turpin (DAIDS/NIAID/NIH) who discussed MPTs in development and product prioritization, attended by hundreds of health professionals worldwide.

• Supported by CAMI, the newly formed STI Working Group held their first in-person meeting in February in Washington, DC to lay a firm foundation for its role within the Initiative for Multipurpose Prevention Technologies (IMPT).

• CAMI has expanded its reach into India working with Nomita Chandhiok (Indian Council of Medical Research), Chairperson of the India MPT Task Force, to hold a convening in Delhi in March.

• With regional partners in Kenya and South Africa, CAMI has developed communication strategies to bring relevant, culturally-appropriate MPT messages to target audiences in these countries.

• CAMI has been publishing:

o CAMI and the World Health Organization raise awareness of MPTs in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology’s recent article, Multipurpose prevention technologies: maximising positive synergies.

o CAMI's Executive Director, Bethany Young Holt, authored an Op-Ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, and a guest blog on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Impatient Optimist blog.

• CAMI grows by one. We are excited to introduce Marisa Cheung, who will provide grant research and writing, in addition to project support for CAMI and IMPT. We thank the generous support of the Mary Wohlford Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and USAID supporting this new position.

CAMI and IMPT partners look ahead with enthusiasm and optimism towards steady progress this spring:

• This April CAMI and IMPT members are meeting in Washington, DC to solidify its governance structure and to strategize on funder coordination efforts. Centralizing working group meetings aligns our work and maximizes resources in efficient ways.

• Be on the lookout for our NEW MPT Product Pipeline Database featuring search functions to access MPTs currently in development. This database will be accessed on our website, which is currently being revamped to be more user-friendly. We will announce the unveiling of our database and new-and-improved website, so stay tuned!

To learn more about CAMI and our work to advance MPTs, please visit www.cami-health.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. On behalf of CAMI and the IMPT, we thank you for your steadfast commitment to women and girls. We are excited about the promising work ahead of us to make simultaneous prevention a reality; and we hope you will join us by supporting our efforts!

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” —African Proverb

Links:

• Check out our website!
• Our Infographic shows why MPTs are so important!

Your generosity has strengthened CAMI’s work to save lives and empower women and girls. With 86 million unintended pregnancies around the world every year and 2.5 million new HIV cases, women need a user-friendly product that provides more comprehensive protection. Even for women using family planning, most birth control methods offer no protection against HIV and STIs, and condoms are under used.

Your support has furthered our efforts to initiate, educate, and advocate for the accelerated development of Multipurpose Prevention Technologies (MPTs) and other strategies for improved sexual and reproductive health.

Since August 2013, your donations have greatly enhanced our strategic outreach efforts helping to further the field of MPTs. A few examples of what we have been able to accomplish are below.

• In late August CAMI launched our MPTs dedicated webpage www.mpts101.org.

• Check out our new Infographic: The Case for MPTs! just released last week.

• New HIV/AIDS prevention methods for women needed – Op Ed in the San Francisco Chronicle by Bethany Young Holt (CAMI) and Manjula Lusti-Narasimhan (WHO). 

• CAMI was also featured in a blog post on the need for MPTs, written by Bethany Young Holt and featured in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Impatient Optimists.  

• MPTs are also highlighted in Entre Nous No.79 “Choices and planning” in an article written by Manjula Lusti-Narasimhan, Mario Merialdi and Bethany Young Holt. 

CAMI and IMPT partners attended and presented at conferences in September, October, November and December including:

• Attending and presenting at the September conference Reproductive Health 2013, hosted by IMPT partner organization the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP).

• On behalf of the IMPT, Dr. Alan Stone attended “New HIV Prevention Strategies: Future of Microbicides” on the 16th of October in Brussels. Dr. Stone presented a poster entitled: One Product. Simultaneous Protection. Multipurpose Prevention Technologies (MPTs) for Sexual and Reproductive Health. A video interview was conducted with Dr. Stone. You may access the video here.

• In November, attending and presenting at the American Public Health Association’s 141st Annual Meeting and Exposition in Boston, MA.

• Also in November, IMPT partners traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the International Conference on Family Planning where there were two MPT-dedicated sessions, an MPT roundtable as well as a CAMI/IMPT-hosted booth.

• In December, IMPT partners in South Africa hosted a session in the Women’s Networking Zone at the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA).

• In December IMPT partners traveled to Bangkok, Thailand for the 11^th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) where MPT materials were distributed at the Citizen News Service booth. 

To learn more about CAMI and our work to advance MPTs, please visit www.cami-health.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

On behalf of CAMI and the IMPT, we thank you for your steadfast commitment to women and girls. We are excited about the promising work ahead of us to make simultaneous prevention a reality; and we hope you will join us by supporting our efforts!

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” —African Proverb

Your generosity has strengthened CAMI’s work to save lives and empower women and girls. With 86 million unintended pregnancies around the world every year and 2.7 million new HIV cases, women need a user-friendly product that provides more comprehensive protection. Even for women using family planning, most birth control methods offer no protection against HIV and STIs, and condoms are under used.

Your support has furthered our efforts to initiate, educate, and advocate for the accelerated development of Multipurpose Prevention Technologies (MPTs) and other strategies for improved sexual and reproductive health.

Since May 2013, your donations have greatly enhanced our strategic outreach efforts helping to further the field of MPTs. Here are a few examples of what we have been able to accomplish:

CAMI and IMPT partners hosted sessions at two conferences in May including:

• The European Society for Contraception’s (ESC) First Global Conference on Contraception, Reproductive and Sexual Health in Copenhagen, Denmark on May 22-25, 2013. CAMI, along with the Association for Reproductive Health Professionals, organized a panel titled: MPTs for sexual and reproductive health: meeting a critical need for women and their families. You can access meeting materials from the session, including presentations, here: http://www.cami-health.org/convenings/ESC2013.php.

• Women Deliver in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 28-30, 2013.  CAMI and the IMPT organized a panel titled: Multipurpose Prevention Technologies for Women and Girls, featuring experts from the around the world including: the World Health Organization, AVAC, Indian Council for Medical Research, IPM, USAID and GNP+. You can access meeting materials from the session, including presentations, here: http://www.cami-health.org/convenings/womendeliver2013.php.

On behalf of the IMPT, Professor Allen Wu of Nanjing University in China, in July attended the STI & AIDS World Congress in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Wu presented a poster entitled: Multidisciplinary approach to contain HIV-1 and other STIs in China: Multipurpose Prevention Technologies. You can access his poster here.

Upcoming items to look forward to include:

• The launch of our MPTs dedicated webpage www.mpts101.org in late August.

• Attending the September conference Reproductive Health 2013, hosted by IMPT partner organization the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP).

• In November, attending the American Public Health Association’s 141st Annual Meeting and Exposition in Boston, MA.

To learn more about CAMI and our work to advance MPTs, please visit www.cami-health.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

On behalf of CAMI and the IMPT, we thank you for your steadfast commitment to women and girls. We are excited about the promising work ahead of us to make simultaneous prevention a reality; and we hope you will join us by supporting our efforts!

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” —African Proverb

Your generosity has strengthened CAMI’s work to save lives and empower women and girls. Your support has furthered our efforts to initiate, educate, and advocate for the accelerated development of Multipurpose Prevention Technologies (MPTs) and other strategies for improved sexual and reproductive health.

Since January 2013, your donations have greatly enhanced our strategic outreach efforts helping to further the field of MPTs. Here are a few examples of what we have been able to accomplish:

• Bethany Young Holt (CAMI’s Executive Director) co-authored an article, “Developing Multipurpose Reproductive Health Technologies: An Integrated Strategy,” in the Journal for AIDS Research and Treatment.
  

• CAMI along with IMPT partners have presented at multiple conferences and meetings in February and March including:
  • The CONRAD Product Development Workshop, Bethany Young Holt and Joseph Romano (CAMI consultant) presented on the prioritization and gap analysis for MPTs.  
  • At Population Action International, Bethany Young Holt presented on CAMI and the IMPT, making the case for MPTs and defining the collaborative and multidisciplinary structure of the IMPT.    
  • At the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) CA Meeting Bethany Young Holt provided an overview of CAMI and the IMPT’s current and future workplans. 
  • At the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC) Meeting, Bethany Young Holt and IMPT members Judy Manning (USAID) and Joseph Romano (CAMI Consultant) presented on origins of CAMI and the IMPT as well as the product prioritization process work of the Scientific Agenda Working Group, a working group of the IMPT.

• CAMI is working to redesign the CAMI website (look for a launch in Fall of 2013)! In the mean time, go to www.cami-health.org and...
  • Check out our new and improved event calendar.
  • Access meeting materials from the first-ever regional symposium on MPTs held in New Delhi, India.

This summer, CAMI and other IMPT members will be participating at meetings across the globe, including:

1. The European Society for Contraception’s First Global Conference on Contraception, Reproductive and Sexual Health in Copenhagen, Denmark May 22-25, 2013.  CAMI, along with the Association for Reproductive Health Professionals, organized a panel titled: MPTs for sexual and reproductive health: meeting a critical need for women and their families.
2. Women Deliver in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia May 28-30, 2013.  CAMI and the IMPT organized a panel titled Multipurpose Prevention Technologies for Women and Girls, featuring experts from the around the world including: the World Health Organization, AVAC, Indian Council for Medical Research, IPM, USAID and GNP+.

Look for updates from these meetings in our next report!

To learn more about CAMI and our work to advance MPTs, please visit www.cami-health.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

On behalf of CAMI and the IMPT, we thank you for your steadfast commitment to women and girls. We are excited about the promising work ahead of us to make simultaneous prevention a reality; and we hope you will join us by supporting our efforts!

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” —African Proverb

Imagine a world where women and girls are empowered to protect themselves from both unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

That’s what we’re about.  We are the Coalition Advancing Multipurpose Innovations (CAMI). 

Your generosity has strengthened our work to save lives and empower women and girls. A tax-deductible donation will support our efforts to initiate, educate, and advocate for the accelerated development of multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs) and other strategies for improved sexual and reproductive health, including:

• Safe and accessible prevention products;
• Research into available and emerging prevention technologies;
• An online resource hub and networking resource for our global network of colleagues and supporters;
• Educational and advocacy materials for partners in the US around the world.

Since the end of September, your donations have greatly enhanced our strategic outreach efforts helping to further the field of MPTs. Here are a few examples of what we have been able to accomplish:

• In mid December, CAMI partnered with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for the first-ever regional symposium on MPTs held in New Delhi, India. This conference assembled regional and international experts in order to identify research priorities relevant to India and define a clear agenda for MPT research and development. CAMI will build from ICMR’s meeting outcomes to better expand our work, which has been generously supported through the assistance of Global Giving and others.    

• IMPT Communication, Advocacy and Outreach Strategy Meeting held on 16 November 2012 in Seattle, Washington. The meeting’s purpose was to review and prioritize communication, advocacy and outreach goals and activities for the next 18 – 24 months that will advance the development and introduction of MPTs.

• In late October, CAMI convened a small meeting in Washington D.C. of 35 donors and technical experts working in the areas of contraception and STI prevention from around the globe for an MPT Product Prioritization Stakeholder Meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to consider the preliminary recommendations generated by the IMPT Scientific Advisory Working Group (SAWG), which consists of representatives from the major family planning/reproductive health and HIV prevention donors, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, DFID, Indian Council of Medical Research, NIH, and USAID. 

• Starting on October 27, the American Public Health Association (APHA) hosted the 140^th Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Francisco, California. On the conference’s final day (October 31, 2012), CAMI’s Director, Bethany Young Holt, presented on Multipurpose Prevention Technologies for Reproductive Health.

To learn more about CAMI and our work to advance MPTs, please visit www.cami-health.org.

On behalf of CAMI and the Initiative for Multipurpose Prevention Technologies, we thank you for your steadfast commitment to women and girls.  As we enter 2013, we are excited about the promising work ahead of us to make simultaneous prevention a reality.  We hope you will join us by supporting our efforts!

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” —African Proverb