The world’s largest open scientific conference on HIV/AIDS, the 6th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention will be held in Rome this week. The event will be organized by the IAS, in partnership with Istituto Superiore di Sanita (Italian National Institute of Health), which is the leading technical and scientific body of the Italian National Health Service.

Each DAY, 7,000 individuals worldwide are infected with HIV, and more than 4,900 die from AIDS-related illness. One in four AIDS deaths is caused by tuberculosis. Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 60 million people have been infected with HIV and nearly 30 million people have died of HIV-related causes.

Held every two years, the conference attracts about 5,000 delegates from all over the world. It is a unique opportunity for the world’s leading scientists, clinicians, public health experts and community leaders to examine the latest developments in HIV-related research, and to explore how scientific advances can, in very practical ways, inform the global response to HIV/AIDS.

Here are the top five objectives of the meeting:

  1. Practice and prevention worldwide.
  2. Provide new insights into HIV susceptibility, disease progression and biomedical prevention interventions worldwide.
  3. Review implementation science research that addresses the challenges of scaling up treatment and prevention, especially in resource-limited settings, including those in Europe.
  4. Provide opportunities for professional development, dialogue and debate among HIV professionals.
  5. Increase public awareness of the implications of new biomedical research for the global response to HIV.

Recent scientific advances in HIV research have led to a re-emergence of interest and optimism in prospects of at least a functional cure for HIV. The development of a functional cure which, without completely eliminating the virus from the body, would permanently suppress its replication and considerably diminish viral reservoirs, possibly leading to the long-term remission of patients. This is a key focus of the conference.

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, IAS President-Elect and 2008 Nobel Laureate for Medicine said:

“While there is certainly a high level of interest being expressed about finding a functional HIV cure, it can only be achieved through an increased and concerted international effort engaging not only the scientific community but all stakeholders involved in the HIV/AIDS response and global health.”

Globally, the number of new HIV infections annually has declined between 2001 and 2008, when the approximate number of new infections was 30% lower than the epidemic’s peak in 1996.

The number of HIV-related deaths also has declined, due in part to the more widespread availability of antiretroviral therapy.

Since 2001, new HIV infections have remained relatively stable in the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East, North America, North Africa and Western Europe. East Asia has seen a 25% decrease in new infections during this period.

Eastern Europe and Central Asia is the only region where HIV prevalence remains on the rise with a 66% increase of the number of PLHIV between 2001 and 2009.

Ukraine and the Russian Federation have the largest epidemics in the region, with Russia having the highest number of PLHIV (980,000).

Almost of those living with HIV (97%) reside in low- and middle-income countries, and Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the most heavily impacted region of the world: in 2008, the African region accounted for 68% of all PLHIV and 72% of all HIV-related deaths globally.

Of the estimated 16.6 million children under 18 who have been orphaned by AIDS, approximately 14.8 million live in sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2007, an estimated 15.5 million women were living with HIV globally. In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 61% of those living with HIV are women, while in the Caribbean, women account for half of adults living with HIV.

There were an estimated 2.5 million children living with HIV worldwide in 2009, with nearly 92% of these children living in sub-Saharan Africa.

Medical News Today will keep you updated on this week’s developments from Rome.

Source: The International AIDS Society

Written by Sy Kraft