What is SEARCH?

 

SEARCH is a multinational and multidisciplinary consortium aimed to develop new and scalable interventions to improve the delivery of HIV prevention and treatment options to vital segments of the population that contribute to the persistence of new infections. Through evaluation of dynamic treatment and prevention interventions for “persistent-driver” populations, SEARCH SAPPHIRE aims to inform policy makers and funding agencies that targeted interventions, inclusive of choice, can propel the global effort to end AIDS beyond the “90-90-90” era of elimination.

 

The SEARCH SAPPHIRE trial (full title: A Multisectoral Strategy to Address Persistent Drivers of the HIV in East Africa) is the current community trial that started in early 2021. The overall goal of the SEARCH SAPPHIRE study is to determine how to reduce HIV incidence to below 0.1% using innovative strategies for HIV prevention and treatment to reach targeted populations using a multi-disease approach.  This study will consist of two Phases:

• Phase A will determine the fidelity, cost, and context-specific “fit” of prevention and treatment interventions through individual-level randomized trials.

• Phase B will evaluate the effects of the optimized dynamic prevention and treatment packages, alone and in combination, on prevention coverage, population-level suppression, and HIV incidence, as well as other health outcomes, in a balanced, community randomized 2x2 factorial design. This study serves to demonstrate that a multi-component intervention trial can effectively inform stakeholders on programming and resource allocation to accelerate reductions in HIV incidence.

 

You can learn more about the SEARCH SAPPHIRE study at Clinicaltrials.gov

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Who is leading SEARCH?

 

Dr. Diane Havlir from University of California, San Francisco, HIV, ID and Global Medicine Division at San Francisco General Hospital, U.S.A.

 

Dr. Moses Kamya, Makerere University and Infectious Diseases Research Collaboration, Kampala, Uganda

 

Dr. Maya Petersen from University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.

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Who are the collaborators and advisors of SEARCH?

 

SEARCH is a multi-country, multidisciplinary consortium. PEPFAR, NIH, UNAIDS, Gilead, World Bank, and WHO are members of the SEARCH Advisory Board. We have external advisory boards in Uganda and Kenya which include Ministry of Health, community members and leaders, HIV care organizations, the private sector.

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Why is Private Support Vital to SEARCH’s Mission?

 

SEARCH trials are funded by a variety of sources including public and private organizations and individuals. In order to ensure the longevity of the SEARCH collaboration, private support is pivotal.

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