Update

9th AIDS conference on science opens in Paris

24 July 2017

More than 6 000 HIV professionals from around the world have gathered in Paris for the 9th IAS Conference on HIV Science. The four-day conference is one of the largest open scientific meetings on HIV, organized by the International AIDS Society (IAS) in partnership with the French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (ANRS).

This year’s conference will prioritize basic science, a prerequisite step to ending the HIV epidemic and feature studies that shine a light on the specific needs of key populations, including young people, transgender people, men who have sex with men, sex workers and people who inject drugs.

The conference was officially opened on Sunday evening by French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, French economist Esther Duflo, Giovanna Rincon, President of the ACCEPTESS-T association and officiated by Linda-Gail Bekker, President of IAS and International Scientific Chair of IAS 2017 as well as IAS 2017 Local Scientific Chair and former director of ANRS.

Global HIV funding has many preoccupied at the Paris conference. Funding cuts would devastate HIV research and treatment programmes, stalling or undoing recent progress highlighted in the latest UNAIDS report released 20 July. IAS reiterated that their shared objective was to ensure that science remains the backbone of the global AIDS response saying funding was critical to end the HIV epidemic.

The conference runs from 23 July to the 26th.

Quotes

"Without civil society, without science and innovation, we would be far away from where we are today in the AIDS response. It is now or never, we have to seize the window of opportunity to end the AIDS epidemic.”

Michel Sidibé UNAIDS Executive Director

“Thanks to research and collective efforts we are inching closer to an end to the epidemic but aside from research, let us not underestimate that prevention is key. Prevention must be strengthened especially among young people.”

Agnes Buzyn French Health Minister

“Social science matters in broadening the toolkit in the fight against HIV. Tremendous progress has been made but collectively we are stalling because not enough attention is being paid on the ground.”

Esther Duflo Professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“While HIV research has already delivered major advances that have saved millions of lives, we still have much more to know and discover, especially a vaccine and a cure.”

Linda-Gail Bekker President of the International AIDS Society (IAS) and International Scientific Chair of IAS 2017

“Each study opens new doors, closes others and narrows our focus. The collective power of the cutting-edge research that will be presented at IAS 2017 will take us a giant step forward in getting to the end of HIV.”

Jean-François Delfraissy IAS 2017 Local Scientific Chair and former director of ANRS

“Science will allow us to find an eventual end to HIV but until then do not forget our quality of life and our access to health.”

Giovanna Rincon President of the ACCEPTESS-T association, Transgender activist