Day 3
XVIII International AIDS Conference

published on July 20, 2010

Key Events:

HIV & Human Rights: March, Rally and Concert
Dr. Julio Montaner and Annie Lennox present Women, Girls and HIV Investigator Prize
The Lancet Series: Global HIV Epidemic Among People Who Use Drugs
The Future of Universal Access

Day 3 | Tuesday, July 20

HIV & Human Rights: March, Rally and Concert

Thousands came together in Vienna last night in a march, rally, and concert for HIV and human rights. The event took place on Day 3 of the XVIII International AIDS Conference.

BC-CfE director, conference chair and president of the International AIDS Society, Dr. Julio Montaner led the march through the streets of Vienna past Austrian government buildings to the famous Heldenplatz (Hero's Square).

Julio Montaner and Michel Sidibe Lead March Joining him at the front of the pack were Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS, and Michel Kazatchkine, head of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Sidibé addressed the rally at the end of the march, thanking the thousands of marchers for their commitment to being “a force for change… a force for human rights.”

Delegates marched to demand more respect for human rights in the fight against HIV and to call attention to the need for more funding globally to support all aspects of a comprehensive response to AIDS.

Singer, songwriter, and UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador, Annie Lennox gave a live preformance to wrap up the event. Lennox has been a long-time advocate for human rights in the global AIDS response. In an Agence France-Presse article, she is reported as saying "funding the fight against AIDS 'should not be something charitable...we need to say: 'this is about human rights,'". Lennox recently launched her SING Campaign, which aims to give voice to women and children living with HIV and AIDS.

Photo credit: ©IAS/Steve Forrest/Workers' Photos

Dr. Julio Montaner and Annie Lennox present Women, Girls and HIV Investigator Prize

Left to right: Dr. Julio Montaner, Annie Lennox, Naina Rani, Dr. Anthony Fauci BC-CfE director Dr. Julio Montaner and singer Annie Lennox presented the Women, Girls and HIV Investigator Prize to recipient Naina Rani prior to Tuesday's plenary. Rani received the award in recognition of her abstract Mainstreaming the Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT) Program with the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM): Experiences from Southern India.

The Women, Girls and HIV Investigator Prize is offered jointly by the IAS-Industry Liaison Forum and UNAIDS, and supported by the International Centre for Research on Women and the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS. The US$2,000 prize is awarded to an investigator from a low-income or middle-income country whose abstract demonstrates excellence in research and/or practice that addresses women, girls and gender issues related to HIV and AIDS. This prize serves to highlight the challenges faced by women and girls in this epidemic and to encourage investigators from low- and middle-income countries to pursue research in this area.

Photo credit: ©IAS/Steve Forrest/Workers' Photos

The Lancet Series: Global HIV Epidemic Among People Who Use Drugs

Following on the heels of The Lancet themed issue on HIV prevention launched at AIDS 2008, The Lancet has commissioned a series on the global HIV epidemic among people who use drugs. The series consists of seven original state-of-the-art reviews, and a number of invited commentaries.

Following the principle of "nothing about us without us," each paper includes the voices of people who use drugs : these include community participants and leaders from China, Ukraine, Thailand, Malaysia, and the USA. Invited commentaries include the Vienna Declaration, a call to decriminalize people who use drugs, and commentaries from high profile authors including Nora Volkow, the Director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse on biomedical research in addiction, state officials from Mexico will discuss their country's alternative approaches to the war on drugs, and commentaries on women and drug use, alcohol and HIV transmission in Africa, and HIV prevention in prisons by a group from Iran.

The series captures a 'sea change' in terms of the international response to HIV prevention and treatment among people who use drugs, a growing segment of the global HIV and AIDS epidemic that has been underappreciated for too long.

Presentations in This Session:
Steffanie Strathdee, United States
Louisa Degenhardt, United Kingdom
Daniel Wolfe, United States
Frederick Altice, United States
Grant Colfax, United States
Ralf Jürgens, Canada
Chris Beyrer, United States

The event was co-chaired by: Richard Horton and Chris Beyer

Video courtesy of the Kaiser Family Foundation

The Future of Universal Access

We must remain committed to the goal of reaching universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care, and recognize that, post-2010, the best path forward must be informed by lessons learned from the successes and the failures of the efforts undertaken to date.

Framed by a discussion of the complicated genesis of the commitment to universal access, the effects of the current financial crisis, and backlash against HIV funding and human rights, this two-part session will address the question: What must change to make universal access a reality? Part 2 of the session will discuss the future of universal access and set out how the existing barriers and backlash can be addressed and what countries, UN agencies, and civil society must do to make universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support a reality for all who need it.

Panel discussion:

Paula Akugizibwe, Rwanda
Eric Goosby, United States
Michel Kazatchkine, Switzerland
Dasha Ocheret, Lithuania
Mphu Keneiloe Ramatlapeng, Lesotho

Panel chaired by Stephen Lewis

Video courtesy of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

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Day 3
XVIII International AIDS Conference

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Day 3 XVIII International AIDS Conference

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Day 3
XVIII International AIDS Conference