Aids 2020

Conferences: the 24th international aids conference (aids 2022) took place at the palais des congrs, in montreal, canada, and virtually from 29 july 2 august 2022. Almost 13,000 hiv professionals and members of civil society, including approximately 3,600 virtual delegates, took part in aids 2022. Aids 2022 called on delegates to re-engage and follow the science, emphasizing the risk to the global hiv response if scientific innovations and evidence-based policies are not implemented with renewed energy. The conference also highlighted the need to overcome inequities in global health and place community leadership at the heart of the hiv response. During the five-day conference, delegates heard new data on cases of hiv remission, a novel technology for measuring the hiv reservoir, long-acting prep and the use of an antibiotic as post-exposure prophylaxis (prep) to reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted bacterial infections. The undetectable = untransmittable (u=u) concept was a major thread running through aids 2022, with hiv professionals and communities working through the practical and policy implications of science presented at previous Ias conferences the international aids society. Aids 2022 was delivered as a hybrid conference, enabling the widest possible participation. Almost all of the more than 100 conference sessions were broadcast live and made available subsequently as on-demand recordings. The hybrid conference successfully integrated speakers broadcasting from all over the world into conference sessions and enabled virtual delegates to question presenters and network with other delegates. The conference featured 37 oral abstract sessions organized into six tracks. The 81 invited speaker sessions included 12 prime sessions, 38 symposia, 16 in-person workshops and 12 virtual workshops. Nine pre-conferences and 108 satellite meetings complemented the invited-speaker and abstract-driven programme.

Gilead: the grant of us $55,000 from gilead sciences supported the Ias towards an hiv cure initiative which drives concerted efforts to accelerate global scientific research and engagement towards a cure for hiv. The initiative focuses efforts on advancing the hiv cure field in low- and middle-income settings and facilitating interaction with hiv and other biomedical research areas. In 2022, the programme has continued to promote science, support action and empower people. Supported activities in 2022 included: (1) the pathways to an hiv cure: research and advocacy priorities pre-meeting at the 24th international aids conference (aids 2022: hybrid montreal, canada), july 2022; (2) the three-day in-person advocacy-for-cure-academy for alumni from previous editions, november 2022, durban, south africa; (3) scholarship programme for research-for-cure and advocacy-for-cure fellows to attend (aids 2022: hybrid montreal canada); (4) advocacy-for-cure grant programme; (5) publication of the global investment in hiv cure research and development in 2021 report in july 2023.