- Email: info@apha.org.za
A co-founding member of APHA, Ntando has spent the past 15 years working closely with
affected communities to take ownership of the fight against HIV and AIDS and its social
effects.
As the Community Engagement Lead at the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation (DTHF) and
University of Cape Town Clinical Trials Unit (UCTCTU), he works closely with various
national and international research networks to develop and implement education programs
and ensure community involvement in HIV prevention and related trials in some of South
Africa's most marginalized communities.
In 2013 he became an AVAC fellow with a focus in
HIV Prevention Research to explore opportunities of developing strategies for broad
stakeholder engagement in clinical trials across South Africa. His fellowship looked at
operationalizing the Good Participatory Practice (GPP) Guidelines through the formation
of a national forum that brings together community stakeholders, advocacy
groups and civil society.
Ntando has contributed and continues to contribute in
the HIV field and its intersections through various leadership roles, including but not
limited to being a Community Working Group (CWG) co-Chair with the HIV Prevention Trials
Network (HPTN), Chairperson of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) Men’s
Sector, community committee member in conferences like CROI, HIV R4P and ICASA. He has
been instrumental in the establishment of the Vaccine Advocacy Resource Group (VARG) and
Africa Free of New HIV Infections (AfNHi), a globally collaborative African-led HIV and
Health advocacy initiative for research and development process.
He is a Community
Engagement practitioner and is driven by a need to see communities play an active role
in driving the processes as opposed to being mere recipients, beneficiaries or subjects.