Fighting HIV/AIDS here and now

PATH staff will join colleagues from around the world in July to build a stronger and more effective global response to HIV/AIDS. The 2010 International AIDS Conference, the world’s largest conference on HIV and AIDS, is taking place in Vienna, Austria, from July 18 through July 23.

As leaders in efforts to prevent HIV infection and increase survival for people living with HIV and AIDS, PATH staff will be contributing to a satellite meeting on providing programs and services for HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Dr. Amitrajit Saha, associate director of SRH with PATH’s India Country Program, will present examples of PATH’s work in designing comprehensive HIV and SRH services for people who live and work in settings with concentrated HIV epidemics, such as sex workers, drug users, and men who have sex with men. The satellite meeting is scheduled for Sunday, July 18.

Webcasts and daily coverage of the conference on the foundation are available from the Kaiser Family Foundation website.

Results of the CAPRISA 004 tenofovir-gel microbicide clinical trial will be announced at the conference on Tuesday, July 20. That evening, Yasmin Halima, director of the Global Campaign for Microbicides (GCM), will co-chair an in-depth discussion of the study’s implications for the international HIV-biomedical prevention research agenda—and for women. Halima will be joined by leading advocates and scientists. Panelists include the two principal investigators of the study, which is the first completed effectiveness trial of a microbicide candidate based on a drug used in antiretroviral therapy.

The satellite session, presented by GCM in partnership with the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and the Treatment Action Campaign, will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Mini Room 10. To learn more about the session please see the session description on the GCM website (186 KB PDF). To register for the session, please RSVP via the Survey Monkey website.

Those not attending the conference are invited to learn about the trial’s findings during a one-hour telebriefing scheduled for 3 p.m. in Austria and South Africa (6 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, 9 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 2 p.m. British Summer Time) on Wednesday, July 21. For more information on joining the telebriefing, please see the Global Campaign for Microbicides website.

PATH staff will also contribute to a satellite session on the latest World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on infant feeding and HIV (announced in November 2009). Presenters will review the evidence that informed the new guidance and explore how the recommendations present new opportunities to prevent pediatric HIV and improve child survival. Wasiu Afolabi of the Infant & Young Child Nutrition project will present on how Nigeria and other countries are responding to the new guidelines, while Kiersten Israel-Ballard of our Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition program will discuss providing supportive supervision to guide effective implementation of changing policies. The satellite meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 22.

PATH staff from around the world will deliver presentations and join poster sessions on topics that include risks and benefits of infant feeding options for HIV-positive mothers, developing standards of prevention for HIV prevention trials, and communicating high-profile research results to the media. Dr. Julie Pulerwitz, leader of PATH’s HIV/AIDS and TB Global Program, will present a poster on promoting gender equity as a strategy to prevent both HIV infection and violence. Dr. Pulerwitz is scheduled to present on Tuesday, July 20.

Both PATH and the Global Campaign for Microbicides (GCM), for which PATH serves as secretariat, will have exhibit booths at the conference. PATH’s booth will be located in the Exhibit Hall while GCM’s booth will be in the Global Village.

Held every two years, the International AIDS Conference is a unique opportunity for activists, government representatives, public health experts, and scientists to discuss the latest advances in HIV/AIDS prevention, public policy, and treatment and care. Participants also have the chance to set the agenda for continuing action.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Rights Here, Right Now,” selected to emphasize the critical connection between human rights and HIV.

• AIDS 2010 International AIDS Conference
• Our work in HIV and AIDS
• Our work in converging HIV and SRH services
• Our work in nutrition
• Our work with the Global Campaign for Microbicides

Illustration: AIDS 2010.

Posted June 7, 2010; updated July 12, 2010.