International AIDS Conference Gathers Global Health Community

More than 14,000 people will be gathering in Melbourne, Australia next week for the 20th International AIDS Conference.

Stepping Up the Pace, the theme for this year’s conference, suggests optimizing recent breakthroughs in treatment access and prevention to speed global action.  Conference organizers call upon scientists, medical practitioners, activists, policymakers, and other committed individuals to re-energize efforts at this critical time. Discussion topics range from post-Millennium Development Goals to the latest scientific advances – and setbacks, universal access for treatment and care, as well as stigma and discrimination.

As a leading public health school in this scientific battle, the Mailman School of Public Health will be well represented at the conference. Among the list of bold-faced names slated to speak is ICAP Director and Epidemiology Professor Wafaa El-Sadr, who will talk about challenges faced by aging people with HIV, and how to use data, modeling and economic analysis to improve a program’s impact.

Dr. Miriam Rabkin will moderate a panel on gaps and innovations in HIV care, Dr. Elaine Abrams will lead sessions on HIV and pediatrics, and Dr. Richard Parker, professor of sociomedical sciences, will speak on social and political aspects of the epidemic.

The Mailman School continues to lead the global effort towards HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and awareness:

• Faculty Experts on HIV/AIDS Co-Author “End of AIDS: Hype vs. Hope”
• ICAP Milestone: Supporting Over 1 Million People in Accessing HIV Treatment
• Combination Approach Reduces Spread of Drug-Related HIV
• ICAP and the Global Health Initiative Mark the Launch of Journal Supplement on HIV in Central Asia
• Professor Ronald Bayer Responds to News of Mississippi Baby With HIV
• Rise in School Enrollment and Delays in Marriage Coincide with Lower HIV Rates Among Teenage Women

The promise of this International AIDS Conference will be diminished by the loss of a number of peer HIV/AIDS researchers whose careers were cut short by the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 on July 17. The Mailman School stands in solidarity with the entire community of researchers, activists, and people living with HIV/AIDS mourning this incalculable loss.