July 18, 2012

XIX International AIDS Conference

HOME | FHI 360 @ AIDS 2012 | #AIDS2012 | VIDEOS

The biennial International AIDS Conference is the premier gathering for those working in the field of HIV/AIDS, as well as policy makers, persons living with HIV and other individuals committed to ending the global epidemic. It is a chance to assess where we are, evaluate recent scientific developments and lessons learnt, and collectively chart a course forward. This year, the conference will be held in Washington, DC — the first time in decades that the gathering has happened in the United States.

FHI 360 will be providing live coverage of AIDS 2012 throughout the week here on Degrees blog. Check this page regularly for news, updates, photos, videos and more.

Friday, July 27, 2012

VIDEO | AIDS2012 comes to a close
by International AIDS Society

Scenes from all six days of the conference and remarks from many of the key speakers and presenters at AIDS 2012.

BLOG | Internatinal AIDS Conference Day 4: A Quest for New Funding Sources
by: Devex

Financing the global response to HIV and AIDS once again took the center stage at the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C. Among key topics debated: The need for new funding sources in the face of the global financial crisis and dwindling donor funds.

Speakers at one of the plenary sessions on Thursday (July 26) backed the implementation of financial transaction taxes – an innovative financing model supported by several nongovernmental organizations and personalities like Bill Gates….Read more.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Photo by Nikki Kahn / Washington Post

NEWS | Heart of International AIDS Conference found in quiet moments of personal sharing
Source: Pamela Constable, The Washington Post

The heart of the 19th International AIDS Conference this week was not in the busy panels of experts discussing every aspect of the global pandemic, or in the boisterous daily protests that spilled from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, or even in the circus of noisy, colorful events promoting condoms and inexpensive AIDS drugs and native art.

It was on the sidelines, in the quiet moments when people from countries a world apart met and talked, really talked, about the common problems they face in their struggles to combat the disease…Read more.

NEWS | AIDS experts: Focus on pregnant women not enough
Source: Lauran Neergaard, Bloomberg BusinessWeek

The AIDS epidemic increasingly is a female one, and women are making the case at the world’s largest AIDS meeting that curbing it will require focusing on poverty and violence, not just pregnancy and pills.

Already, women make up half of the world’s HIV infections, and adolescent girls are at particular risk in the hardest-hit parts of the world, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta told the International AIDS Conference.

Some 4.8 million people ages 15 to 24 are living with HIV, and two-thirds are female. Sexual violence and conditions of poverty that frequently lead to girls leaving school and marrying in their teens — often to much older men — for economic security are chief risks in developing countries, she said…Read more.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

TWEET OF THE DAY | @YouthAIDS2012

 

POSTER PRESENTATION | AIDS 2012 Poster Presentation: Stigma and Discrimination toward MSM and Sex Workers in Jamaica
by Kara Tureski, FHI 360

BLOG | Chief Mumena: Leading By Example on HIV
by: Bill Gates, Impatient Optimists

The fight against AIDS in Africa is filled with true heroes. To my mind, Chief Jonathan Eshiloni Mumena is certainly one of them.

When I visited Zambia in March, I had the chance to meet with him. He is a senior chief of the Kaonde people, who live along Zambia’s border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Chief Mumena is one of his country’s most respected traditional leaders, and he has been using his voice to encourage Kaonde men to embrace voluntary medical male circumcision as a strategy to prevent HIV transmission…. Read more.

RESOURCE | FHI 360’s Journey Toward an AIDS-Free Generation
Source: fhi360.org

FHI 360’s integrated approach to fighting HIV/AIDS is driven by innovative research, aggregated evidence and a long track record of engaging directly with communities around the world that have been hit hardest by the epidemic.

Learn more about FHI 360’s 30 year journey toward an AIDS-free generation….Read more.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

TWEET OF THE DAY | @gatesfoundation

 

Photo: Peter Morgan / Reuters

NEWS | Scientists hunting for an AIDS vaccine may be getting close
Source: Washington Post

Scientists compare the hunt for an AIDS vaccine to the search for the Holy Grail. And for three decades, it has proved to be about as difficult to find.

Since Robert Gallo and Luc Montagnier identified HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — in 1983, only three vaccine trials have been completed. The first failed to prevent or control infection. The second also failed, mysteriously increasing infection. The third, completed in 2009, provided protection to only about a third of the people receiving it — but how it did that is still unknown…Read more.

VIDEO + BLOG | Partnership + Vision = Making an AIDS-Free Generation Reality

USAID and FHI 360 have been key players in the HIV/AIDS field for 30 years. Roxana Rogers, Director of the Office of HIV/AIDS at USAID, joins FHI 360 experts to examine how this partnership has led to the possibility of an AIDS-free generation. Read full post on USAID’s IMPACT Blog

SHARE | #FromMyPerspective, we can make an AIDS-free generation a reality!

Degrees Blog asked visitors to the FHI 360 booth to share their perspectives on how we can make an AIDS-free generation a reality. We invite you to share your perspective by tweeting us using #FromMyPerspective and #AIDS2012. We will add you to the many voices working together to achieve this reachable goal. Watch more videos

 

NEWS | Compassion can help defeat AIDS, Elton John tells conference
Source: USA Today

More than new therapies or vaccine, what the world needs now to end the AIDS epidemic, says musician Elton John, is love.

“I have just been to the AIDS quilt and I have seen so much love for the dead,” said John, after visiting the National Mall in Washington, where panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, created to honor victims of the disease, stretch between the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol. “What we need is more love for the living.”…Read more.

NEWS & UPDATES | Highlights from Day Two at AIDS 2012

From the International AIDS Society, here is a video that includes highlights from the second day of AIDS 2012. Highlights from Monday’s activities included addresses by Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, and Elton John.

NEWS | At critical turning point, International AIDS Conference aims to finally stem spread of virus.
Source: CNN, Global Public Square Blog

Michel Sidibé, executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), shares his thoughts with CNN on how to end AIDS. He shared what he believes should be the cornerstone for this agenda including science, good laws, full investment
and community ownership and global solidarity. Full Post

Monday, July 23, 2012

VIDEO + BLOG | SMARTgirl: Empowering women in Cambodia, a smart approach to human development.

There are an estimated 35,000 entertainment workers in Cambodia, working at night clubs, bars, massage parlors, karaoke clubs (KTV), restaurants, beer gardens, as well as on the street. Prevalence of HIV is as high as 14 percent, among some groups of entertainment workers.

SMARTgirl stands apart from other programming among entertainment workers in Cambodia because of its positive, non-stigmatizing approach. It combines evidence-based interventions with the strong SMARTgirl brand, which empowers women to protect their health and well-being. Read full post

Photo By KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS

NEWS | U.S. in global AIDS fight to win, Clinton vows
Source: Reuters

The United States will keep pushing for an “AIDS-free generation,” funding more HIV drugs and medical interventions such as circumcision to help turn back the global epidemic, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday…Read more.

 

 

 

 

VIDEO | “AIDS 2012 – Turning the Tide”, a message from the White House and President Barack Obama

RESOURCE | Live webcasts of key AIDS 2012 sessions

Were you unable to make it to the conference in D.C. this year? IAS is providing free webcasts of key sessions all week long. Check out the schedule here to find the next webcast of interest to you. You can view the webcasts from the aids2012.org homepage.

 

 

 

Sunday, July 22, 2012

CROWDBLOG | AIDS2012 Kicks off
Source: Attendees of the Opening Session

Community leaders, governments, celebrities, activists and NGOs come together to attend the opening of the 14th International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC. This blog is crowdsourced from tweets and photos by the attendees of the session. View Crowdblog

TWEET OF THE DAY | @UNAIDS

NEWS | At critical turning point, International AIDS Conference aims to finally stem spread of virus.
Source: Washington Post

From dark days to a critical turning point in the AIDS epidemic: The landscape has changed dramatically in the two decades since the world’s largest AIDS conference last met in the United States. Sunday, the International AIDS Conference opened in the nation’s capital with the goal of “turning the tide” on HIV. Full Post

Saturday, July 21, 2012

VIDEO | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – ALL IN Against AIDS | #imALLin

Today the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched a video and Twitter campaign calling for a public commitment to end the AIDS epidemic. Watch the video below and lend your voice to this important campaign by using the hashtag #imALLin on Twitter.

NEWS | Will the fight against HIV/AIDS ever end?
Source: Al Jazeera

About 30 years ago, it was a considered a death sentence for anyone who caught it. These days more and more people are able to live with HIV/AIDS, thanks to advances in treating the disease. On Thursday, scientists launched a new strategy towards the big prize of HIV/AIDS research – finding a cure. Read more on Al Jazeera

BLOG | It Takes a Village: Empowering Communities to Fight HIV
By: Shane Everts, Ugochukwu Amanyeiwe and Jen Pollakusky

Halting the global AIDS pandemic takes more than just a pill, a doctor or a clinic. The real fight against HIV starts with families, schools and villages. It begins in communities—where attitudes and opinions take shape early on and influence the people and families affected by HIV.
Read more on USAID FRONTLINES.

Friday, July 20, 2012

RESOURCE | IAS Program-at-a-glance

The online Programme-at-a-Glance (PAG) has a complete list of conference sessions, satellites, meetings, and programme activities taking place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, as well as a list of affiliated independent events, including pre-conference events
Open Program-at-a-Glance.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

VIDEO | Sandy Thurman Invites You to attend FHI 360’s satellite session, Integrated Approaches, Local Answers. Learn More

RESOURCE | New UNAIDS Report: Together We Will End AIDS

Released just prior to AIDS 2012, the new UNAIDS report contains the latest data on numbers of new HIV infections, numbers of people receiving antiretroviral treatment, AIDS-related deaths and HIV among children…Read more.

 

 

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

BLOG | Family Planning Should Be Part of the Conversation at AIDS 2012, by Rose Wilcher

The XIX International AIDS Conference, taking place July 22-27, arrives just days after another major global health event, the London Summit on Family Planning. HIV and family planning are both urgent global health priorities — and they are inextricably linked…Read more.

NEWS | AIDS conference forces Washington’s epidemic into global spotlight

America’s capital city is high on the world HIV infection list, an issue activists hope to highlight as eyes turn to DC meeting…Read more.

 

 

VIDEO | Welcome to AIDS 2012