[Vienna, Austria]   Encouraged by recent progress toward Universal Access, but wary of signs of possible retrenchment, an estimated 20,000 participants from more than 185 countries, assembled in Vienna last Sunday for the opening of the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) under the theme: “Rights Here, Right Now”. Experts, in plenaries on state of the epidemic, emphasized the central role of human right protections to success in, and outlined the critical choices facing world leaders in the year ahead.
Dr. Julio Montaner, AIDS 2010 Chair, President of the International AIDS Society and Director of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver, Canada, noted positive outcomes for sustained and widespread access to antiretroviral treatment in reversing the HIV/AIDS epidemic and admonished stakeholders to ‘stay on course’.
“For the first time since the development of lifesaving treatments for HIV there is evidence of game-changing scenarios demonstrating that sustained and widespread access to antiretroviral treatment can save lives and help reverse the epidemic,” said Dr.Montner, adding: “At this promising moment, we must stay the course.”
Vienna was chosen as the host city for AIDS 2010 in part due to its proximity to Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), a region with a growing epidemic fueled primarily by injecting drug use. Conference delegates will examine the epidemic in EECA, as well as in all other regions. Home to two-thirds of all people living with HIV and AIDS, Southern Africa remains the most heavily affected region globally.
In a strong show of local support, Austrian President Heinz Fischer and Minister of Health Alois Stöger welcomed delegates. Other speakers included: South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe; European Union Commissioner of Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli; and community representatives Vladimir Zhovtyak and Alexandra (Sasha) Volgina, from Ukraine and Russia, respectively. Youth activist Rachel Arinii Judhistari from Indonesia, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé and singer/songwriter/activist and UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador Annie Lennox also addressed delegates. On Tuesday last Ms. Lennox was scheduled to headline a march and rally on human rights.
“In the past five years, the coverage of HIV treatment in low- and middle-income countries has increased tenfold to now reach five million people,” said Dr. Brigitte Schmied, AIDS 2010 Local Co-Chair and President of the Austrian AIDS Society.
“Just ten years after AIDS 2000 in Durban, we have shown the sceptics that universal access is achievable; that this is a goal we can and must reach,” she said. “Holding ourselves and our political leaders accountable for this goal, especially as the next Global Fund replenishment approaches, is our continued challenge in the months ahead.”