Dates: 18 to 23 July 2010
Venue: Vienna, Austria
Event Description:
Vienna, Austria has been chosen to host the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010), the largest international meeting on HIV, where every two years 25,000 participants representing all stakeholders in the global response to HIV meet to assess progress and identify future priorities. AIDS 2010 is organized by the International AIDS Society (IAS), in partnership with government, scientific and civil society partners in Austria and international partners from civil society and the United Nations. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the IAS is the world’s leading independent association of HIV professionals.
According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), an estimated 150,000 people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia were newly infected with HIV in 2007 bringing the number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the region to 1.6 million. This compares with 630,000 PLHIV in 2001, an increase of 150%. Worldwide, an estimated 33.2 million people are living with HIV and more than 2.1 million people died of AIDS in 2007.
AIDS 2010 will be held from 18 to 23 July 2010 at the Reed Messe Wien.
The conference is organized by the IAS in partnership with a number of international bodies and local partners, including:
• UNAIDS, and its co-sponsors
• International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO);
• Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+)/International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW);
• World YWCA
• Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC)
• East European & Central Asian Union of PLWH (ECUO)
AIDS 2010 will be the eighteenth in this series of international AIDS conferences. In August 2008, it will be held in Mexico City, Mexico, and the previous meeting was held in Toronto, Canada in 2006. With more than 2,500 international journalists expected to attend, the conference is the single most widely covered health event in the world.
Vienna was selected to host AIDS 2010 following an evaluation of candidate cities by the IAS in consultation with its international partners. Candidate cities were evaluated by the IAS Governing Council according to three criteria: impact on the epidemic, sufficient infrastructure, and freedom of movement and travel for people living with HIV/AIDS. According to a policy of non-discrimination first adopted by the IAS Governing Council in 1992, the Society will not hold its conferences in countries that restrict short term entry of people living with HIV/AIDS, and/or require prospective HIV-positive visitors to declare their HIV status on visa application forms or other documentation required for entry into the country.
For more information visit: http://www.aids2010.org/
