July 31, 2026
The Center for Innovation in Global Health’s (CIGH) Acting Director, Dr. Sara Allinder, and Senior Technical Advisor for Implementation Science and Program Lead for Social and Behavioral Sciences, Debi Hoege, were in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this week for the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026). Sara co-moderated a satellite on Tuesday evening with Dr. Beatrice Matanje, Chief Executive Officer of the Malawi National AIDS Commission (NAC) titled “PathToScale for Injectable PrEP in Malawi: Scale-up findings and lessons from a systems-based approach to CAB-LA delivery”. The session featured colleagues from the NAC, the Ministry of Health, Blantyre and Lilongwe District Health Offices (DHO), and PathToScale co-investigators. The PathToScale implementation science initiative has been testing delivery of long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) across 36 sites in the two districts utilizing a systems-based approach derived from the Blantyre Prevention Strategy (BPS). CIGH has partnered with the Government of Malawi as prime grantee for both projects since BPS’s launch in May 2020. The conference also featured posters highlighting the ongoing outcomes of BPS’s system strengthening work in Blantyre and an oral abstract presented by Gilbertha Chisamba, HIV Primary Prevention Coordinator, Blantyre DHO, titled “Leveraging youth champions to enhance PrEP uptake among clients substantially vulnerable to HIV at South Lunzu health center, Blantyre, Malawi: a quality improvement initiative” during a session focused on “Status-neutral practice: Interventions for young people”.
