Advancing Choice and Equity: Yvette Raphael Champions African Women’s Health in UK Parliamentary Forums

LONDON - Advocates for the Prevention of HIV in Africa (APHA) Executive Director and Co-Founder, Yvette Raphael, addressed high-level UK parliamentarians and global health leaders this week, delivering a powerful call to action for inclusive science and equitable access to life-saving HIV prevention.

Across two critical events - a parliamentary roundtable and a reception marking International Women's Day - Raphael, the 2024 Mani Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year awardee, shared her lived experience as a woman living with HIV to emphasise that scientific innovation means little without real-world accessibility.

Beyond the Breakthrough: A Call for Access Equity

The day began with a roundtable titled "Beyond the Breakthrough: Accelerating Access to Lenacapavir for an AIDS-Free Future," hosted by the HIV, AIDS, and Sexual Health APPG. Raphael joined experts from Unitaid and AVAC to brief MPs on Lenacapavir, a long-acting injectable that represents a paradigm shift in HIV prevention.

Speaking to the roundtable, Raphael warned that "innovation is not impact". She highlighted that for adolescent girls, young women, and key populations, a delay in access is not just an administrative gap but a "window of vulnerability". Her address urged funders to:

• Prioritise those at highest risk as central, not peripheral, to funding strategies.

• Fund delivery systems, including youth-friendly and stigma-free services, to ensure products actually reach the community.

• Include women’s leadership in every stage of rollout and evaluation.

Making Science Deliver for Women’s Health

Later in the afternoon, Raphael spoke at a reception hosted by multiple All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) to celebrate International Women’s Day and British Science Week.

Raphael used the platform to celebrate the "extraordinary" results of the Lenacapavir trials, which demonstrated zero new HIV infections among participating women and girls. She reminded the audience that this breakthrough was only possible because African women were placed at the very centre of the research.

"African women were not just beneficiaries of this breakthrough - they were central to it. Their participation raised the bar for how clinical research should be done."

However, Raphael remained candid about the financial realities, noting that breakthroughs do not move from trials to communities on "goodwill alone". She advocated for smart, preventative investment in organisations like Unitaid to ensure these tools become affordable in lower- and middle-income countries.

The Message to the UK

Throughout both events, Raphael underscored the UK’s vital role in the global HIV response through its support of evidence-based policy and global health partnerships. Her message was clear: African women do not need permission to value their lives; they need global systems - and funding - that value them too.

"Delay is not an accident," Raphael concluded. "It is a decision."