2004 INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE MOVED TO THAILAND!

[Guest guest]

THE 2004 INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE MOVED

TO THE SOUTH OF THE WORLD

The International AIDS Society is pleased to announce

that the XV International AIDS Conference has been

moved from its original planned location in

Toronto (Canada) to Bangkok, (Thailand).

The final decision was taken during the IAS Governing

Council Retreat Meeting, (May 12, 2001) after a

process which carefully reviewed the logistical,

organizative and scientific requirements, and after

consultation with the conference co-organizers,

UNAIDS, ICASO, GNP+ and ICW.

In 2000, IAS brought the International AIDS Conference

to Durban, South Africa.

" Break the Silence " was the theme of the conference.

And, indeed, the silence was broken, Durban

representing a turning point in the international

fight against AIDS, with increasing difficulties for

political leaders in Africa and elsewhere in the South

to remain silent and complacent, but also for their

counterparts in the North to deny efficient support.

Nobody will be able to stop the process that started

there and which will bring more HIV prevention and

care to the South.

This is the reason why IAS decided to move the XV

Conference from the North to the South of the world,

to yet another epicenter of the epidemic. HIV/AIDS

concerns the whole world: if we do not globally

address the catastrophe, the spread of HIV

during the next decade might be even more rampant in

Asia and the Pacific than what has happened to date

in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the estimation

of

WHO and UNAIDS, Asia - being home to more than

one-third of the world population and harboring more

than one-fourth of the world's new HIV infections - is

potentially facing a devastating spread of the

epidemic.

The next international Conference will take place in

Barcelona, in July 2002, and the subsequent

conference was already scheduled to take place, in

2004, in Toronto, Canada. We should therefore

acknowledge the great sensitivity of the IAS

Immediate

Past-President Mark Wainberg, who was the appointed

Chair of the 2004 Conference and who proactively

supported the decision to move the conference. We

also want to acknowledge and thank the Toronto

convention Center, who kindly allowed IAS

to postpone the Toronto conference.

" Asia offers lessons learned on local responses for a

large range of interventions in prevention and control

of HIV. In most of Asia, there are examples of

excellent HIV/AIDS prevention and care projects and of

major international research collaboration.

Choosing Thailand as a venue for conducting the XV

International AIDS Conference will serve to further

highlight the crucial need for action

and response to the epidemic in countries in the

developing world " , according to Dr. Somsong Rugpao,

Director General, Department of Communicable Disease

Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.

The 2004 Bangkok AIDS Conference will be organized by

the IAS and the Thai Ministry of Public Health in

collaboration with UNAIDS and with ICASO, GNP+ and

ICW. We look forward of working together with you, to

make the Bangkok Conference another milestone in the

fight against HIV/AIDS.

Stefano Vella MD, President

International AIDS Society

Stockholm Secretariat: +46 8 459 66 21

E-mail: secretariat@...

IAS Rome Branch: +39 06 4461400 E-mail:

ias.share@...

Direct e-mail: stefanovella@...

International AIDS Society - a not-for profit

organisation founded in 1988 - contributes to the

control and management of HIV infection and AIDS

throughout the world in cooperation with other

organizations.

IAS is politically, confessionally and financially

independent and:

- Serves as the world's professional society for

scientists, health care and public health workers, and

others engaged in HIV/AIDS prevention, control

and care.

- Is a source of independent, expert advice on

HIV/AIDS issues, including prevention, care and

research.

- Organizes the World International AIDS Conferences

(since 1988)

- Organizes the HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment

Conferences

- Represents the scientific perspective in regional

and global AIDS issues.

- Promotes best practices in research and

intervention.

- Advocates for adequate resources for research and

training as well as for controlling the epidemic and

alleviating its consequences.

Current programs of the International AIDS Society

include:

- SHARE: An Educational Program on HIV Clinical Care

and Prevention devoted to developing countries.

- The Clinical Trials Partnership (CTP) for Developing

Countries.

- The Global Monitoring of HIV resistance (in

collaboration with WHO).

IAS has more than 10,000 members in more than 130

countries. The IAS is governed by an elected Council

consisting of 25 members, five from each geographical

region.

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE INTERNATIONAL AIDS

SOCIETY

Stefano Vella, Italy (President); Joep Lange, The

Netherlands (President-Elect); Mark A. Wainberg,

Canada (Immediate Past-President); Lars O.

Kallings, Sweden (Secretary General).

Region 1 (USA/Canada): S. Hirsch, USA; Julio

S.G. Montaner, Canada; > T. Schooley, USA;

Helene D. Gayle, USA; Hammer, USA.

Region 2 (Europe): Gunnel Biberfeld, Sweden; Margaret

Anne , United Kingdom; Jaap Goudsmit, The

netherlands; Ian Weller, United Kingdom.

Region 3 (Africa): Souleymane Mboup, Senegal; Fred

Mhalu, Tanzania; Elly Katabira, Uganda; H.M.

Coovadia, South Africa; Alan Whiteside, South Africa.

Region 4 (Latin America/Caribbean): o Badaro,

Brazil, Pedro Cahn Argentina, Gloria Echeverria de

Pérez, Venezuela; Mauro Schechter ,Brazil;

E. Soto , Mexico.

Region 5 (Asia/Oceania): Roy K.W. Chan, Singapore;

Kaldor, Australia; Hiroaki Mitsuya, Japan; NM

, India; Yunzhen Cao, China; Chaiyos

Kunanusont, Thailand.