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High level speakers announced for XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012)
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Former U.S. First Lady Laura Bush, South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, U.S. Senators John Kerry and Lindsey Graham, U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi , U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé and The Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs confirmed to address the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington, D.C.
Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH to deliver Plenary speech Monday, 24 July.
Some 25,000 Scientists, People Living with HIV, and other stakeholders expected to attend AIDS 2012
Tuesday, 17 July 2012 (Washington, D.C., USA)- Organizers of the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012)
announced today that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Former U.S. First Lady Laura Bush, South African Deputy President
Kgalema Motlanthe, U.S. Senators John Kerry and Lindsey Graham, U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, U.S.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and The Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs will be among the
high-level speakers who will join thousands of the world's top AIDS researchers, community leaders, and other stakeholders
in Washington, D.C. this July. An estimated 25,000 attendees are expected to attend AIDS 2012, which will take place from
22 to 27 July under the theme Turning the Tide Together.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, (Myanmar/Burma) and UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon will both address the conference via video. Actress Sharon Stone will also present the inaugural amfAR/International AIDS
Society Elizabeth Taylor Award at the Opening Session.
President Bill Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States, South
African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius,
philanthropist Bill Gates, humanitarian Sir Elton John, founder of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and
actress Whoopi Goldberg were announced in June as high-level speakers at AIDS 2012.
Former U.S. First Lady Laura Bush will speak at a Special Session, Leadership in the AIDS Response for Women, on Thursday, 26 July.
South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe will address two Special Sessions, How Do We Get There? Country Planning for
Maximum Impact on Monday, 23 July, and China, India, South Africa, Brazil: How Will They Use Their Leadership to Advance the
AIDS Response? on Tuesday, 24 July.
U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé and the newly elected World Bank President Jim Yong Kim will
each address the Opening Session on Sunday, 22 July. Kim and U.S Senator John Kerry and U.S. Senator Graham will address a Symposia
Session entitled Improving Effectiveness and Efficiency in the AIDS Response on Monday, 23 July. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi will
address the Closing Session on Friday, 27 July and development economist Jeffrey Sachs will participate in the Special Session,
China, India, South Africa, Brazil: How Will They Use Their Leadership to Advance the AIDS Response? on Tuesday, 24 July.
"We are delighted to welcome the world's leading AIDS scientists and activists to AIDS 2012, and to have secured these high-level keynote
speakers at this crucial time in the global response to HIV," said Elly Katabira, International Chair of AIDS 2012 and President of the
International AIDS Society (IAS).
In the last few years various research trials, including HPTN 052, CAPRISA 004, TDF2, Partners PrEP, and iPrEx have demonstrated with
solid evidence the efficacy of HIV treatment as prevention, while other studies are currently investigating the possibility of a cure
for HIV.
"The past few years have been a scientific watershed in the life of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, one that has given us the tools to potentially
make major inroads into the epidemic on an unprecedented scale," concluded Katabira.
The theme of AIDS 2012, Turning the Tide Together, has been selected to emphasize how a global and decisive commitment is crucial to
change the course of the epidemic now that science is presenting promising results in HIV treatment and biomedical prevention. This
biennial event is the world's largest meeting on AIDS, where leading scientists report on the latest AIDS research, and together
with implementers, community leaders and policymakers, help to identify next steps in the global response to AIDS.
"AIDS 2012 represents a unique occasion to mobilize policy makers, governments, NGOs, scientists, people living with HIV and civil society
to join forces," said Dr. Diane Havlir, U.S. Co-Chair of AIDS 2012 and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
"The economic times are tough but the science is telling us that we'd be irresponsible to miss this historic moment. And many of those
scientists who have been at the forefront of new research around treatment as prevention and HIV reservoirs will be present at the
conference. Now, more than ever we need to seize the moment, attract funding to invest in AIDS research and at the same time
promote programmes based on effectiveness and efficiency that optimize the use of resources," concluded Havlir.
The full AIDS 2012 programme and a Programme Highlights document is now available through the conference
website www.aids2012.org and significant parts of
the programme – including webcasts of key sessions, speeches, slide presentations, abstracts,
e-posters, session-specific and daily rapporteur reports, as well as workshop handouts and audio
recordings, will also be online during the conference.
Additional high-level speakers confirmed at AIDS 2012 (In alphabetical order)
Kesetebirhan Admasu, Minister of State for Health, Ethiopia
Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, Canada
Agnes Binagwaho, Minister of Health, Rwanda
Denis Broun, Executive Director, UNITAID
Grant Colfax, Director, White House Office of National AIDS Policy
Francis Collins, Director, National Institutes of Health
David Davis, Victorian Minister of Health, Australia
Tom Duane, New York State Senator
Bill Frist, Former U.S. Senator
Paul De Lay, Deputy Executive Director, UNAIDS
Mark Dybul, Former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH
Thomas R. Frieden, Director, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator
Mireille Guigaz, AIDS Ambassador, France
Gabriel Jaramillo, General Manager, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Michel Kazatchkine, Commissioner, Global Commission on Drug Policy
Sophia Martelly, First Lady of Haiti
Crown Princess of Norway, Her Royal Highness Mette-Marit
Anders Nordström, AIDS Ambassador, Sweden
Hanno Pevkur, Minister of Social Affairs, Estonia
Penehupifo Pohamba, First Lady of Namibia
Tanya Plibersek, Minister of Health, Australia
Murray Proctor, AIDS Ambassador, Australia
J.V.R. Prasada Rao, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for AIDS in Asia and the Pacific
Mphu Ramatlapeng, Vice Chair of the Board, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Former Minister of Health, Lesotho
Leslie Ramsammy, Minister of Agriculture, former Minister of Health, Guyana
Sandra Elisabeth Roelofs, First Lady of Georgia
Rajiv Shah, Administrator, USAID
Sarah Wescot-Williams, Prime Minister, Sint Maarten
Marijke Wijnroks, AIDS Ambassador, The Netherlands
Benedict Xaba, Minister of Health, Swaziland
END
Online Media pre-registration closes on 17 July, at 23.59 CET.
After 17 July, media registration and accreditation will only be provided on-site at the Media Desk in the Registration Area in the WCC,
from Saturday, 21 July at 13:00. If you intend to register for the conference after 17 July, please send an email to
either media@aids2012.org (if you are an international media)
or us_media@aids2012.org (if you are an US media)
with your details to expedite your registration onsite.
Media centre opening hours: Media Centre operations begin on Saturday, 21 July at 13:00. The Media Centre will be staffed between 08:00
and 20:00 each day, and will remain accessible 24 hours per day until 24:00 on Friday, 27 July.
Conference Organization
AIDS 2012 is convened by the International AIDS Society and the conference’s international partners: the Global Network of People
Living with HIV (GNP+); the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO); the International Community of Women with
HIV/AIDS (ICW) and the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS): the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition
(CVC); Sidaction.
The U.S.-based Black AIDS Institute; the District of Columbia Department of Health (DOH); the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) of the
Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA); the National Institutes of Health (NIH); the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP)
at the White House; and the U.S. Positive Women’s Network (USPWN) are serving as local partners.
AIDS 2012: Join the conversation
Get the latest conference updates and share your thoughts and ideas through the Conference Facebook and Twitter. We are
tweeting – @aids2012– and hope many of you will tweet along with us, using
#AIDS2012 to keep the conversation going. Become a fan of AIDS 2012 on Facebook and stay in touch with the latest
conference updates and developments. Please visit
www.facebook.com/aids2012 to become a fan. If your group or
organization is participating in AIDS 2012, we welcome posts of photos and videos of your work on this page. Tell us why
you are coming to Washington and what you hope to gain from AIDS 2012.
About the IAS
The International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world's leading independent association of HIV professionals, with over 16,000 members from more than 196 countries working at all levels of the global response to AIDS. Our members include researchers from all disciplines, clinicians, public health and community practitioners on the frontlines of the epidemic, as well as policy and programme planners. The IAS is the custodian of the biennial International AIDS Conference and lead organizer of the IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 30 June- 3 July 2013. . www.iasociety.org | www.ias2011.org
For interview requests with Elly Katabira and more information about this release:
Francesca Da Ros (Geneva, Switzerland)
AIDS 2012 Communications and Media Officer
Email: Francesca.Daros@iasociety.org
Tel: +41 22 710 0822
US Mob (July 16-28): +1 202 997 6917
Michael Kessler
AIDS 2012 International Media Coordinator
Email: michael.kessler@aids2012.org
Mob: +34 655 792 699
US mobile (July 14-28): +1 202 997 5851
Skype: mickgpi
For interview requests with Diane Havlir and more information about this release:
Shawn Jain (Washington, D.C., U.S.)
AIDS 2012 U.S. Media Relations Coordinator
Email shawn.jain@aids2012.org
Tel: +1 (202) 470 3127
Mob: +1 (202) 714-0535
Francesca Da Ros (Geneva, Switzerland)
AIDS 2012 Communications and Media Officer
Email Francesca.Daros@iasociety.org
Tel: +41 22 710 0822
Mob: +41 (0)796 109 679
US Mob (July 16-28): +1 202 997 6917
"Reproduced with permission - International AIDS Society"
International AIDS Society
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