HIV/AIDS and STBBI Strategic Plan 2022-2027

Over the last years, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) HIV/AIDS Research Initiative, as part of the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada, has fulfilled strategic directions set in its 2015-2020 Strategic Plan by investing in Canadian-led research with the most significant impact on alleviating the burden of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Canada and globally.

As of 2018, as described in the Pan-Canadian Sexually Transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI) Framework and the Government of Canada five-year action plan on STBBI, the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada has expanded its scope to move toward an integrated approach to HIV and STBBI across the full continuum of prevention, testing, initiation of care and treatment and ongoing care and support. Consequently, the scope of the CIHR HIV/AIDS Research Initiative has been expanded to incorporate other STBBI, including but not limited to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and human papilloma virus and was thus renamed the CIHR HIV/AIDS and STBBI Research Initiative.

The CIHR HIV/AIDS and STBBI Research Initiative is currently developing a new five-year Strategic Plan that will inform HIV/AIDS and STBBI research priorities for Canada and will align with the CIHR Strategic Plan 2021-2031. Throughout the strategic planning process, Canada’s HIV and STBBI community, including researchers, trainees, clinicians, partners, policy makers, people with lived/living experience and other members of the public, have had several opportunities to provide input on research priorities for the next five years and where to direct Canada’s research efforts to accelerate prevention, diagnosis and treatment to reduce the health impacts of HIV and STBBI in Canada and globally by 2030. We believe strongly in the importance of engaging Canada’s HIV and STBBI community and appreciate their invaluable expertise.

From May 2019 to January 2020, CIHR led a broad engagement process with the research community, in consultation with the CIHR HIV/AIDS and STBBI Research Advisory Committee (CHASRAC). Over 300 members of the Canadian HIV/AIDS and STBBI research community participated. These activities included:

  • Four in-person events held at research conferences and meetings from May to October 2019, engaging approximately 200 conference participants;
  • An online survey, to which 72 individuals and organizations responded, from October to December 2019;
  • Nine targeted focus groups held remotely via webinar, from November 2019 to January 2020, in which 56 individuals participated.

Unfortunately, the development of the strategic plan was paused in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This work resumed in Spring 2021 and, building on the work completed to date, the launch of the new CIHR HIV/AIDS and STBBI Strategic Plan (2022-2027) is expected in Winter 2022.

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