News and Events
The XVI International AIDS Conference 2006
July 2006 – Toronto, Canada
Synopsis by Juliet Reid
Over 20,000 people descended on Toronto for the XVIth International AIDS conference. Grandmothers from South Africa joined by Canadian grandmothers and the youth were among the very visible groups. Apart from the obvious dignitaries at the opening ceremony – Governor General, Mayor, Minister, etc., the conference was also graced by Melinda and Bill Gates and Bill Clinton. The two Bills did get a lot of airtime at the conference and a huge amount of press coverage which did not sit well with some people. However, one must acknowledge the tremendous work they are doing not only in the HIV field but in other areas as well and also by them being present at AIDS conference keeps HIV/AIDS visible which is very important.
This year the theme was Time to Deliver and that kind of gave me some expectations although I was not always sure what. This is my second conference (in case you thought I was a veteran) and my first one was in Durban South Africa. The Durban conference was unique in that it was the first in an African country (and still holds the record) and we were fighting for medication to be made available, accessible and affordable in developing countries. In Toronto we were still fighting for treatment to be made available, accessible and affordable for all who need it. So I was not quite sure what it was Time To Deliver – it was not explicit what. Speaker after speaker, session after session, we heard that many people who wanted medication were still not getting it and I am still not sure what strategy is being used to achieve this. We heard the same story again about stigma and discrimination and there was a lot of debate on the ABC model (for those not in the know this is Abstinence, Be faithful and if all else fails use a Condom). The pro’s and con’s were in equal numbers and with equal passion. There were people saying the ABC model is killing people and others saying it has saved lives!
And so with all this palaver what did I come back with?
• That there is still no magic bullet for HIV and people are still getting infected.
• That over 80% of people living with HIV who need treatment are still not getting it and it is doubtful that the UN targets to will be achieved by 2010 will be achieved.
• There is a good number of people doing a great deal of work in the community, medical and research fields and even the political arena.
• That the struggle continues and although it seems hopeless there is still hope for things to get better especially for developing countries.
• For those on treatment studies on treatment interruption seem promising.
The conference was a great experience although sometimes overwhelming because of its scale. I still enjoyed it greatly and met inspiring people.
My thanks to GlaxoSmithKline, Gilead and Boehringer Ingelheim who supported me financially and made it possible for me to attend the conference.
Check out our conference photo gallery.
You can also download this World AIDS Conferece update as a PDF.
