The AIDS 2010 rapporteurs held their Summary Session immediately before the Closing Session on Friday. All week long, rapporteurs have been “scurrying around” collecting and synthesizing presentations, according to session Chair Alan Whiteside, Director of the Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division at the University of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. The rapporteurs - experienced scientists, clinicians, researchers and advocates from around the world - summarised many of the presentations made during the week, focusing on critical issues addressed, important results presented and key recommendations put forward. The rapporteur reports will be available here and in the Programme-at-a-Glance. More...

by John Miller, Projects Coordinator, Coalition on Children Affected by AIDS

For the third time since AIDS 2006, the Coalition on Children Affected by AIDS and The Teresa Group co-hosted a symposium on children affected by HIV/AIDS. Titled “Children and HIV: Family Support First,” the symposium provided an important and targeted opportunity to probe topics and issues focused on improving how best to support families and younger children in the battle against HIV/AIDS.  The symposium drew 440 attendees from 67 countries.
 
As Graca Machel told symposium attendees via video: “When one child dies needlessly from HIV/AIDS, it creates a tragic ripple that will harm our world for generations to come.” She urged attendees to join the growing Campaign to End Pediatric HIV/AIDS (CEPA). 

Elizabeth Mwenya of the Zambian Network of People Living With HIV and AIDS speaks at the the conference.

The symposium’s theme was family-centred prevention, treatment and care for children, with a strong emphasis on eliminating pediatric AIDS and reducing maternal mortality while expanding and connecting services related to the care and support of children.  Nearly one in five maternal deaths can be linked to HIV. More...

In the lead up to the AIDS 2010 opening on Sunday, many groups and delegates are already at work on a number of issues that will be key topics in the days ahead.

Young people from around the world gathered for the four-day Youth Pre-Conference to network and gain skills in research, advocacy and communications. For more information, visit the blogs from the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS and Y-Peer.

The International AIDS Society is sponsoring two meetings that run through Saturday. Bridging the Divide: Inter-Disciplinary Partnerships for HIV and Health Systems is bringing together participants from multiple disciplines to discuss options for leveraging HIV programming to improve health systems and other priority health conditions, as well as to highlight priority research areas. Scientists at “Towards a Cure": HIV Reservoirs and Strategies to Control Them are examining cutting edge research developments in this important area -- strategies currently being investigated to control HIV reservoirs may hold the key to a cure for HIV disease in the future. The session is chaired by IAS Governing Council Member and Nobel Laureate Francois Barre-Sinoussi and the programme is now available. More...