In our latest FYI video, HIV community advocate Raif Derrazi shared his reflections on the 2024 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). Mr. Derrazi is a fitness expert for Plus Live, which produces TV and social media content, and co-chair of the community advisory board for the NIH-supported HOPE Exit Disclaimer(HIV Obstruction by Programmed Epigenetics) Collaboratory, which is pursuing a path to an HIV cure. Watch our conversation with him below:

Long-Acting Antiretroviral Therapy

Mr. Derrazi highlighted research presented at CROI about different forms of long-acting antiretroviral treatment (ART) for HIV for different populations. “Some of the major hurdles associated [with HIV treatment] that long-acting injectables address are people who forget to take their pills sometimes,” he said, noting that this can happen for a variety of reasons. Long-acting forms of treatment that don’t require a daily pill “seems to tackle a lot of those issues,” he added.

He added that HIV treatment is not one-size-fits-all and with more treatment formulations people can choose which option is right for them. “There is a progression in the new treatments we have available, but that doesn’t mean that the latest and greatest is the best for everyone,” he said. “We’re just adding to this toolkit of options that we can choose from based on our needs.”

Community-Researcher Partnership

Mr. Derrazi emphasized the importance of having a partnership between the HIV community and researchers. “We are the very communities that these researchers and scientists are seeking to help. It makes sense that we have a seat at the table,” he said. “[This] will just increase the chances that when something does come to market–a treatment or, godspeed, a cure one day–that the community is ready and willing to accept it.”

About CROI

HIV.gov has shared interviews from CROI 2024 with federal HIV leaders, participating researchers, and community members. You can find them on HIV.gov’s social media channels and blog recaps here by using the CROI topic tag.

More than 3,600 HIV and infectious disease researchers from 73 countries gathered in Denver and virtually from March 3-6 this year for CROI, an annual scientific meeting on the latest research that can help accelerate global progress in the response to HIV and other infectious diseases, including STIs and viral hepatitis. Over 1,000 summaries of original research were presented. Visit the conference websiteExit Disclaimer for more information and session webcasts.