HIV Ban Kept Science, Prevention Updates, Conference and Those Living with HIV/AIDS Away.

December 2, 2009 - New York, New York - International AIDS Conference Returns to U.S. in 2012. For the first time since 1990, the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) will be held July 22-27, 2012 in Washington, DC. As the custodian of the conference, the International AIDS Society (IAS) made the decision that will greatly benefit the United States, because the United States is repealing its HIV travel ban, effective January 4, 2010.

“The return of the conference to the United States is the result of years of dedicated advocacy to end a misguided policy based on fear, rather than science, and represents a significant victory for public health and human rights,” said Elly Katabira, MD, president-elect of IAS and professor of medicine at Makerere University in Uganda, who also will serve as the international chair of AIDS 2012.

More than 25,000 scientists, advocates, policymakers, activists and people living with HIV/AIDS from nearly 200 countries are expected at the international conference. The IAS selection process also took into consideration the many key players in the global response to AIDS are based in Washington, DC, including the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, which directs the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the National Institutes of Health and the World Bank.

“The HIV Ban, kept science and disease prevention experts from meeting in the Unites States for more than 19 years. The trainings and conversations that will take in Washington D.C. will prove invaluable to United States for years to come,” stated Guillermo Chacón, President of the Latino Commission on AIDS. “The positive impact on HIV/AIDS stigma that having HIV and the conference spoken about on every major and local news telecast in multiple languages for over a week cannot be measured.”

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ABOUT THE LATINO COMMISSION ON AIDS
The Latino Commission on AIDS (LCOA) is a nonprofit membership organization founded in 1990 dedicated to fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Latino/Hispanic communities. The Commission is the leading national Latino AIDS organization coordinating National Latino AIDS Awareness Day and other prevention and advocacy programs in more than 40 States and Puerto Rico. For more information visit: www.latinoaids.org or www.nlaad.org. UNIDOS PODEMOS / UNITED WE CAN


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