Vienna AIDS Conference

"Eastern Europe in Spotlight at Vienna AIDS Conference"
Agence France Presse (03.10.10)

In Vienna on Wednesday, UNAIDS chief Michel Sidibe previewed the 18th International AIDS Conference being held there this summer. "AIDS 2010 will be the conference for people without a voice," he said at a press briefing. "The rapidly growing HIV/AIDS epidemics in Eastern Europe, fueled primarily by unsafe injecting drug use, are topics under the spotlight at AIDS 2010," to be held July 18-23, UNAIDS and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a joint statement.

Vienna is a gateway to Eastern Europe and Central Asia - regions where HIV prevalence has nearly doubled since 2001, largely due to unsafe drug injection. An estimated 1.5 million people are living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. By holding the conference in the Austrian capital, organizers hope to highlight the regions' marginalized groups like drug users, said Robin Gorna, head of the International AIDS Society. "To break the trajectory of the HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe, we must stop new infections among injecting drug users and their partners," Sidibe said. "People who use drugs have a right to access the best possible options for prevention, care, and treatment."

"We can and must reverse the HIV epidemic, first of all by preventing the spread of drug use, and then by providing treatment to addicts. In this comprehensive program, HIV-targeted measures include providing clean injecting equipment, opioid substitution, and antiretroviral therapy," said UNODC head Antonio Maria Costa.

For more information on the conference, visit www.aids2010.org.


CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update Thursday, March 11, 2010