AIDS 2012 | Preparing for XIX International AIDS Conference Washington D.C.

Secretariat announces two off-site conference hubs for sex workers and people who use drugs |Record number of abstracts submitted

Posted by Melanie Nathan, May 26, 2012/

Thursday 10 May, 2012 (Geneva, Switzerland, and Washington, D.C., USA)— The International AIDS Conference is the largest gathering of professionals working in the field of HIV, including people living with HIV and other leaders in the HIV response. It plays a fundamental role in shaping the global response to HIV and in keeping HIV and AIDS on the international political agenda.  It is being held in D.C. from 7/22 to 7/.

The AIDS 2012 secretariat will partner with the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) and the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN) to organize two conference hubs off-site in India and Ukraine to ensure the participation of those delegates who cannot attend the XIX International AIDS Conference event in Washington, D.C., taking place 22-27July.

From 21 to 27 July, NSWP will host the “Sex Workers Freedom Festival” in Calcutta, India, while EHRN will convene “AIDS 2012: Ensuring that our voice is heard,” a pre-conference consultation in Kiev, Ukraine, 9–10 July 2012, for people living with HIV, people who use drugs, and representatives of other key affected populations.

Additionally, EHRN will host a post-conference hub in Kiev, 10 September 2012, highlighting the critical issues related to harm reduction be presented at AIDS 2012.

“In order to effectively respond to the HIV epidemic we need science, leadership and community to act together,” said Elly Katabira, AIDS 2012 International Chair and President of the International AIDS Society (IAS). “To reach this goal, the inclusion of key affected populations is essential. We can announce that the conference programme includes over 50% of all non-abstract driven sessions focused on topics related to key affected populations, including men who have sex with men, transgender individuals and people who use drugs.”

In total, 11,715 abstracts were received for AIDS 2012, a 15% increase over the previous International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) in Vienna, Austria. After an intensive review process, 3,600 abstracts (31%) were accepted to ensure the delivery of highest-quality presentations. Abstracts from key affected populations mirror this trend.

“We are excited to offer a strong program and we are certain that AIDS 2012 will represent a defining moment in the history of HIV,” said AIDS 2012 U.S. Co-Chair Diane Havlir, of the University of California, San Francisco.

The AIDS 2012 Secretariat also announced two new additional plenary speakers:
Linda Scruggs, AIDS Alliance for Children (United States), Making Women Count: a Comprehensive Agenda (Wednesday 25 July)

Debbie McMillian, Transgender Health Empowerment (United States), People Who Use Drugs (provisional title).

The full AIDS 2012 conference program  with confirmed speakers will be available online (www.aids2012.org) on Friday 8 June.

Registration numbers at this stage are up some 35% on 2010 numbers during the same period and submission numbers for Global Village activities, Youth Program events, and the workshops program  have exceeded the organizers’ expectations.

Posted By Melanie Nathan