Announcement of AIDS 2010 Plenary speakers
The World YWCA is thrilled to share the 19 high-level speakers who will address an estimated 25,000 conference delegates in Vienna, July 18 – 23, 2010. The theme of AIDS 2010 Rights Here, Right Now selected by organisers will emphasise the critical connection between human rights and HIV.
“Through several plenary presentations focusing on human rights, as well as others on violence against women and girls, incarceration, drug policy and harm reduction, and positive health, dignity and prevention, we will demonstrate how stigma and discrimination are undermining public health,” said AIDS 2010 Local Co-Chair Dr. Brigitte Schmied, President of the Austrian AIDS Society. “Equally important, we will show what is being done to address these barriers in all regions of the world,” she added.
“The World YWCA is pleased to have been part of the Conference Coordinating Committee (CCC) that defined the plenary presentations and the speakers. The plenary presentations will address some of the most important challenges in the AIDS response and will be delivered by diverse speakers. The World YWCA is delighted that the CCC was able to convene speakers with great experience and expertise, representatives of people living with HIV and also achieve gender balance” Sophie Dilmitis HIV and AIDS Coordinator.
The World YWCA is looking forward to the plenary session on Violence Against Women and Girls to be delivered by Everjoice Win from ActionAid International.There is growing recognition of the intersections of violence with HIV and AIDS. The Women Won’t Wait campaign calls for women's health and human rights in the struggle to address HIV and AIDS and end all forms of violence against women and girls. It asserts that HIV is both a cause and consequence of violence against women. With the plethora of human rights treaties and declarations that have been signed violence against women and HIV and AIDS continue to be the main global challenges of development and health facing women and girls. Globally, up to six out of every ten women experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime.
The following plenary speeches will set the stage each day:
| Date | Session | Speakers |
| Sunday July 18 (As part of the opening | State of the Epidemic: Human Rights and Epidemiology | Yves Souteyrand - France World Health Organisation |
| State of the Epidemic: Human Rights and the Response | Paula Akugizibwe - Rwanda AIDS and Rights Alliance of Southern Africa | |
| State of the Epidemic: Towards a Cure | Sharon Lewin - Australia Monash University | |
| Monday July 19 | Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention | Vuyiseka Dubula - South Africa Treatment Action Campaign |
| HIV, Drug Policy and Harm Reduction | Anya Sarang - RussiaAndrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice | |
| Keynote Address | President Bill Clinton - United States William J. Clinton Foundation | |
| Tuesday July 20 | New Concepts in HIV and AIDS Pathogenesis: Implications for Interventions | Anthony Fauci - USA National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases |
| Violence Against Women and Girls | Everjoice Win - ZimbabweActionAid International | |
| Universal Access: Treatment and Prevention Scale-up | Aaron Motsoaledi - South AfricaMinistry of Health | |
| Wednesday July 21 | ARV for Prevention | Bernard Hirschel - SwitzerlandInfectious Diseases Service Geneva University Hospitals |
| Access to Affordable and High-Quality Medicines | Ellen ‘t Hoen- The NetherlandsUNITAID | |
| ART Advances - Into the Next Decade | James Hakim - ZimbabweUniversity of Zimbabwe | |
| Thursday July 22 | Combination HIV Prevention: What's New? | Carlos Caceres - PeruInstitute of Studies in Health, Sexuality and Human Development |
| Vertical Transmission | Elaine Abrams - United StatesInternational Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs, Mailman School of Public Health | |
| Jonathan Mann Memorial Lecture: Human Rights | Meena Seshu - India Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha | |
| Friday July 23 | HIV and Incarceration: Prisons and Detention | Dmytro Shermebey, Ukraine All-Ukrainian Network of PLHA &Manfred Nowak, Austria, University of Vienna, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights |
| Care-Giving and Support: Integral to Comprehensive Care | Elizabeth Gwyther - South Africa Hospice and Palliative Care Association of South Africa | |
| Hepatitis C and HIV Co-Infection | David Thomas - United States Johns Hopkins School of Medicine | |
The full conference programme will be available through the conference website in early June.
AIDS 2010 is convened by the International AIDS Society (IAS), the world’s leading independent association of HIV professionals, in partnership with a number of international, regional and local partners. The World YWCA is a member of the Conference Coordinating Committee (CCC) representing women, young people and faith-based organisations and was also part of the CCC for AIDS 2008. As part of the planning committee, the World YWCA is working to ensure that women and girls are integral to all aspects of the conference agenda.
For more information visit the World YWCA website and the section dedicated to AIDS 2010. This section provides helpful information for those who intend to attend the conference as well as updates on the Conference Programme.
