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...

©IAS/Steve Forrest/Workers' Photos

The First Lady of Georgia, Sandra Roelofs, today endorsed the Vienna Declaration witha crowd of media, Dr. Evan Wood, Founder of the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy and one of the authors of the declaration, and Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, looking on. 

The declaration – the official declaration of AIDS 2010 – is a scientific statement seeking to address the HIV epidemic among persons who inject drugs, among other harms, through the incorporation of scientific evidence into drug policies.  The Minister of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, Irakli Giorgobiani, and the Deputy Chairman of Parliament of Georgia, George Tsereteli, also signed the declaration.

By Meena Saraswathi Seshu, General Secretary of Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha. Seshu delivered the Jonathan Mann Memorial Lecture at AIDS 2010.

The phrase “rights-based approach” flows easily into the speaking points and materials of many organizations and even governments when they talk about meeting the challenge of HIV.  This is a good thing if the phrase really means something.  But I am concerned that “rights-based approach” loses its meaning when people think that it’s a matter of just inviting affected people to a meeting, or speaking kindly of them, or even just dropping the phrase “rights-based” into a mission statement.

Kothis and transgender sex workers of SANGRAM in west India.

In my plenary speech, I will recount the story of our work in SANGRAM as an example of confronting HIV with human rights as a real – and not just rhetorical – everyday guide to action.  There was nothing easy about our effort to make human rights more than an abstract framework, but achieving this goal is feasible.  I know that we have learnt lessons that can benefit HIV work in many settings and cultures.

The journey of our struggle is too rich to describe in this short blog, but let me try to highlight a few key elements. More...

By Tyrone Hall, Vienna Youth Force Youth Journalist and Graduate Student at Clark University, United States

Thousands of delegates attending the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) and local residents marched last night to call for human rights to be included as a fundamental component of efforts to prevent new infections and provide treatment for people living with HIV.

The march echoed the theme of the conference, Rights Here, Right Now, through chants, vuvuzelas and singing of some well-coined phrases and tunes. The march culminated in a concert laced with spirited speeches and a captivating performance by Annie Lennox.

(c)IAS/Steve Forrest/Workers' Photos

The messages echoed during the march were varied but connected by one common cause: justice for all. Some groups called for greater respect to be extended to members of the LGBT community in parts of the world where stigma has made the fight against AIDS nearly impossible, particularly among men who have sex with men. Other groups called for the examination of the rights of women in the context of HIV, especially in light of the positive microbicide trial results released Monday. Several groups also called for greater resources to be put into treatment and programmes for drug users. More...

HIV/AIDS and Human Rights: Now More Than Ever! was the rallying cry shouted by thousands of people who gathered last night in the center of Vienna to march for human rights.  Here are some scenes from the march and performances.  For more photos, click here.

©IAS/Steve Forrest/Workers' Photos

©IAS/Steve Forrest/Workers' Photos

©IAS/Steve Forrest/Workers' Photos

©IAS/Steve Forrest/Workers' Photos

By Jack Beck, MSMGF Communications Associate

In response to skyrocketing HIV prevalence rates among gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) around the world, global health leaders have called for an end to the human rights abuses against MSM that contribute to HIV vulnerability.  The call came on Saturday at BE HEARD, an all-day pre-conference event hosted by the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) to address soaring global rates of HIV among MSM. 
 
The event showcased presentations from more than 100 of the world’s top experts on the health and human rights of sexual minorities. With over 500 attendees from more than 80 countries, the event was the largest gathering of its kind. 

Othman Mellouk, MSMGF Co-Chair and President of Morocco's Association de Lutte Contre le Sida Maroc, and Dr. Robert Carr, MSMGF Co-Chair and Associate Director of Policy & Advocacy at the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations

By Sara Speicher, Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance

A multi-faith meeting on the eve of the XVIII International AIDS Conference called for faith communities to keep commitments they have made to promote universal access, overcome stigma and discrimination and become welcoming communities for people living with HIV.

"This has to do with a basic issue of justice," said Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches in an address to the 17 July multi-faith conference at Vienna's Technical University. The conference gathered more than 250 people, including leaders of religious groups, networks of people living with HIV and international organizations, under the theme Rights Here, Right Now: What's faith got to do with it? The conference was organized by a multi-faith working group convened by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance.

Tveit was part of an opening panel looking at how faith traditions promote work towards universal access to HIV treatment, care, support and prevention. He recalled that in 1987 the main governing body of the Geneva-based WCC had affirmed the "right to medical and pastoral care regardless of socio-economic status, race, sex, sexual orientation or sexual relationship. We should keep our commitments to do what we know we have to do," said Tveit. More...

[Originally posted 14 June 2010]

AIDS 2010 will take place at a pivotal time in the HIV epidemic. This is the target year that the leaders of the Group of 8 (G8) -- and eventually all UN member states -- set for achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Since the universal access target was set five years ago, we have made significant strides:

• By December 2008, over four million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy in low- and middle-income countries, one million more than in the previous year.
• Almost half of all pregnant women living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries received antiretrovirals to prevent mother-to-child transmission.
• More people were counseled and tested for HIV in 2008 than in previous years.
• More children living with HIV are benefiting from treatment and care programmes.

Kicosehp NGO, Kibera Community Self Help programme, Kenya. Credit: UNAIDS/G. Pirozzi.

Though we still have far to go, this progress is tangible evidence of the feasibility of scaling up HIV programmes, even in the poorest areas. More...

By Kieran Daly, Executive Director, International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO), an AIDS 2010 Organizing Partner

The XVIII International AIDS Conference takes place at a critical time. 2010. The target year by which the world was to have achieved universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

As a long-standing member of the Conference Coordinating Committee, the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) believes that AIDS 2010 is a key opportunity to hold world leaders accountable and push them to make a difference in turning the tide on the AIDS pandemic.

We know that investing in AIDS responses is a good example of how the world can effectively respond to health challenges and have real impact. An example of this is the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which alone has financed programmes that will save an estimated five million – including putting 2.5 million people on HIV treatment by 2009. More...

"Now more than ever we must stand up for human rights and demand an end to social injustice," says Annie Lennox in her new short video about the Human Rights March and Rally on Tuesday, 20 July, starting at 18:30. Read all the details about the march here and plan to be there. Rights Here, Right Now.