By Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, IAS Governing Council Member and President of the International Scientific Advisory Board of ANRS and Richard Jefferys, TAG, Coordinator, Michael Palm Basic Science, Vaccines & Prevention Project

From 16 to 17 July, immediately prior to the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010), the International AIDS Society held a workshop addressing the critically important subject of moving beyond antiretroviral therapy and addressing HIV persistence. Towards a Cure: HIV Reservoirs and Strategies to Control Them was co-sponsored by the French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (ANRS), Bundesministirium fur Wissenschaft und Forschung (BMWFa), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Sidaction and Treatment Action Group (TAG).

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Workshop Chair

As eloquently described by Sharon Lewin in an opening plenary (at 1hr 55 mins), the push to make curing HIV infection a research priority is motivated by several factors. The success of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has brought the life expectancy of HIV-positive people very close to that of their HIV-negative counterparts, but in most studies a slight difference is still observed. And while HAART has revolutionized HIV care, it remains imperfect, coming with a range of possible complications that can impair quality of life. Furthermore, the cost of delivering life-long HAART to all who need it will eventually consume a daunting proportion of aid budgets. 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...

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

The opening plenary featured the unveiling of a groundbreaking Johns Hopkins/World Bank global survey of HIV epidemics among MSM in the year 2010.  The study indicated HIV prevalence rates as high as 21.4% in Malawi, 13.8% in Peru and 23% in Thailand.  The data reveals the current state of the HIV epidemic among MSM to be characterized by ongoing epidemics in low- and middle-income countries, resurgent epidemics in high-income countries, and the discovery of new epidemics in areas that previously had no data. More...

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...