IAS is bringing clinicians, researchers and advocates together online to examine HIV prevention, care and wellbeing for trans women. The session will look at barriers shaped by stigma and unequal access, as well as practical questions about PrEP, gender-affirming hormones and sexual health. Its focus matters because effective care needs to work with people’s lives, not against them.
The webinar puts trans women’s health needs centre stage
The International AIDS Society’s virtual webinar will explore how HIV prevention and care can better respond to trans women’s needs. The discussion will also consider the experiences of trans women who do sex work, for whom discrimination, barriers to healthcare and exposure to violence can compound existing risks. (IAS; UNAIDS) [Do not include source markers in article body; remove. We need map paragraph refs. Need produce without parentheticals citations per instructions. Could say UNAIDS in attribution. Keep no markers.]
These are not simply individual health questions. UNAIDS identifies structural and social inequalities as important drivers of HIV vulnerability among transgender people, pointing to the need for responses that address more than clinical treatment alone. (remove citation syntactic but attribution.) According to UNAIDS, tackling stigma and improving access to appropriate services are part of the wider prevention picture.
PrEP and hormones deserve a clear, practical conversation
One of the webinar’s specific topics is how gender-affirming hormone therapy may interact with pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. Guidance from LGBTQIA+ Health Education and UCSF stresses the importance of discussing PrEP in the context of a person’s gender-affirming care, rather than treating the two as competing priorities.
That distinction matters in a clinic room. People should be able to ask about prevention options and hormone treatment without feeling they must choose between HIV protection and care that supports their gender. The webinar is set to explore these considerations, including treatment-related effects on sexual health.
Good HIV care starts with listening, not assumptions
For trans women living with HIV, care involves more than prescribing medication. The IAS session will examine their challenges and vulnerabilities, while clinical guidance from UCSF emphasises care that is respectful of gender identity and attentive to individual needs.
And small details can change the experience: using someone’s correct name and pronouns, asking rather than assuming, and making services feel safe enough to return to. These steps don’t replace treatment, but they can help make it accessible and sustained.
A global discussion, with four languages available
The session will be moderated by Alegra Wolter of Australia’s Kirby Institute. Confirmed speakers include Tonia Poteat of the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, Quincy Mokoto of Botswana and Margot Annequin of France’s Inserm.
Interpretation will be available in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. That multilingual format is a practical part of making a global conversation more accessible, particularly when the subject is shaped by local healthcare systems and lived realities.
What participants can take into practice
For anyone working in HIV services, the themes point towards a useful starting place: ask what matters to the person in front of you, explain prevention choices plainly, and make room for questions about hormones, sexual health and treatment. PrEP guidance from HIV clinical resources supports individualised conversations about prevention rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
The webinar is also a reminder that better outcomes depend on the environment around the consultation. Evidence-based care is essential, but so are services people can reach without stigma or fear. That’s where the discussion could have its most lasting value.
Explore the session if you’re looking for a more inclusive approach to HIV prevention and care.
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