Mexico City Conference Focuses on U.S. Epidemic, Prevention

The proceedings of the 17th International AIDS Conference, held earlier this month in Mexico City, marked a turning point in the way the world talks about the global fight against HIV/AIDS. For the first time, spurred by sobering new HIV incidence estimates from the CDC and a dramatic new report from the Black AIDS Institute, the United State’s domestic epidemic was framed not as a separate phenomenon but rather as piece of the larger AIDS pandemic puzzle.

This shift included a renewed recognition of the disproportionate impact of HIV on men who have sex with men (MSM) and other vulnerable populations in the U.S. and the developing world. Prominent speakers, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, described the need for ‘combination approaches’ to ending the epidemic that include protecting human rights for MSM and other vulnerable populations such as women and girls, sex workers, drug users, and the homeless.

Leaders said such combination approaches must also include scaled up treatment, research, and prevention. In particular, speakers highlighted the need to sustain the push for new prevention technologies, such as vaccines, pre-exposure prophylaxis, and vaginal and rectal microbicides. As the Secretariat for the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA), AFC applauded remarks by prominent researchers acknowledging unprotected anal intercourse among women and men as rationale for increased investment in microbicide research.

Acknowledging the need for expand the range and scope of prevention options, UNAIDS Director Peter Piot said, "We cannot treat our way out of this epidemic. For every two people put on treatment, five are newly infected with HIV."

Check out these resources for in-depth coverage of the 17th International AIDS Conference:

AIDS2008.com – Community voices from the conference.

International Rectal Microbicides – Read up on IRMA’s pre-conference workshop, Spanish language report, poster presentation, and discussion with author Elisabeth Pisani.

LifeLube Blog - Check out LifeLube's on-the-ground coverage from the conference.

AIDS2008.com

Official Website of the 17th Annual International AIDS Conference