#5152
Bamidele
Member

With regards to how best the researchers can engage stakeholders to be able to provide a comprehensive HIV preventive package, I think the environment of the PrEP trial needs to be addressed first. In the case of Thai PrEP trial, the law prohibiting the use of clean needles was the environment that ought to have been addressed first. It was obvious that within this legal framework it will be very difficult to provide a comprehensive HIV prevention package. So what the research team can do in this scenario is to engage CSO or any other formidable legal institution that can proactively interact with the legislative arm of the government to create an enabling environment for HIV preventive interventions during the trial. This should be at the formative stage. The HIV communities such as people living with HIV/AIDS and HIV treatment action group need to have their capacity built by the research team through training and quality education to serve as an advocate for the IDU or any applicable trial participants on the use of HIV intervention tools. Consultations with policy makers and legislators of the country where a proposed trial will take place, regarding study protocols and HIV prevention activities are also very important.