AIDS 2010 to explore latest developments in HIV science

Conference will explore latest developments in HIV science, emphasize the importance of an evidenced-based response to HIV and drug policy, and urge world leaders to follow through on commitment to universal access

Organizers of the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) announced today that President Bill Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States, and South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi will be among 19 high-level speakers who will address an estimated 25,000 conference attendees in Vienna this summer. AIDS 2010 will take place from 18 to 23 July under the theme Rights Here, Right Now.

President Clinton will deliver keynote remarks on Monday, 19 July. Minister Motsoaledi's plenary presentation is on Tuesday, 20 July. "We are delighted to have secured these two high-level keynote speakers at this crucial time in the global response to HIV," said AIDS 2010 Chair Dr. Julio Montaner, President of the International AIDS Society and Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver, British Columbia.

"Universal access is a commitment wealthy nations made to Africa and to millions of people living in low- and middle-income countries in 2005, and those of us assembling in Vienna will not watch silently as the financial resources needed to make good on that promise falter," Dr. Montaner added.

The theme of AIDS 2010 is Rights Here, Right Now, selected by organizers to emphasize the critical connection between human rights and HIV. Human rights will also be the focus of a march and rally in Vienna on Tuesday, 20 July, which will include remarks and a performance by singer songwriter and activist Annie Lennox.

"Through several plenary presentations focusing on human rights, as well as others on violence against women and girls, incarceration, drug policy and harm reduction, and positive health, dignity and prevention, we will demonstrate how stigma and discrimination are undermining public health," said AIDS 2010 Local Co-Chair Dr. Brigitte Schmied, President of the Austrian AIDS Society. "Equally important, we will show what is being done to address these barriers in all regions of the world," she added.

The AIDS 2010 Opening Session on 18 July will feature welcoming remarks, three plenary presentations on the state of the epidemic and a speech by UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidib-.

The full conference programme will be available through the conference website in early June and significant parts of the programme - including webcasts of key sessions, speeches, slide presentations, abstracts, digital posters, session-specific and daily rapporteur reports, as well as workshop handouts and audio recordings, will also be online during the conference.

The following plenary speeches will set the stage each day:

Sunday, 18 July (as part of the Opening Session)
Yves Souteyrand (France, World Health Organization), State of the Epidemic: Human Rights and Epidemiology
Paula Akugizibwe (Rwanda, AIDS and Rights Alliance of Southern Africa), State of the Epidemic: Human Rights and the Response
Sharon Lewin (Australia, Monash University), State of the Epidemic: Towards a Cure

Monday, 19 July
Vuyiseka Dubula (South Africa, Treatment Action Campaign), Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention
Anya Sarang (Russia, Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice), HIV, Drug Policy and Harm Reduction
President Bill Clinton (United States, William J. Clinton Foundation)

Tuesday, 20 July
Anthony Fauci (United States, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases), New Concepts in HIV/AIDS Pathogenesis: Implications for Interventions
Everjoice Win (Zimbabwe, ActionAid International), Violence Against Women and Girls
Aaron Motsoaledi, (South Africa, Ministry of Health)

Wednesday, 21 July
Bernard Hirschel (Switzerland, Infectious Diseases Service Geneva University Hospitals), Anti-HIV Drugs for Prevention
Ellen 't Hoen (The Netherlands, UNITAID), Access to Affordable and High-Quality Medicines
James Hakim (Zimbabwe, University of Zimbabwe), ART Advances - Into the Next Decade

Thursday, 22 July
Carlos Caceres (Peru, Institute of Studies in Health, Sexuality and Human Development), Combination HIV Prevention: What's New?
Elaine Abrams (United States, International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs, Mailman School of Public Health), Vertical Transmission
Meena Seshu (India, Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha), Jonathan Mann Memorial Lecture: Human Rights

Friday, 23 July
Dmytro Shermebey (Ukraine, All-Ukrainian Network of PLHA) and Manfred Nowak (Austria, University of Vienna, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights), HIV and Incarceration: Prisons and Detention
Elizabeth Gwyther (South Africa, Hospice and Palliative Care Association of South Africa) Care and Support: Integral to Comprehensive Care
David Thomas (United States, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine), Hepatitis C and HIV Co-Infection

Source: International AIDS Society