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Durban AIDS Indaba to Seek Joint Strategies
By Tamar Kahn, Business Day
2006-07-26

Durban will host the third national HIV/AIDS conference next year from June 5 to 8, said Human Sciences Research Council CEO Olive Shisana yesterday. The gathering is an arena for scientists, activists, policy makers and people living with HIV to exchange ideas on combating the disease.

SA's HIV epidemic is one of the worst in the world, with 5,54-million people living with the virus by the end of last year, according to a survey conducted in October 2005 and released on Friday by the health department. The survey also showed that just over 30% of pregnant women are HIV-positive.

Next year's conference aims to build consensus between different interest groups on how to combat HIV, said Shisana.

"We are all committed to dealing with HIV/AIDS but there have been so many tensions. We'd like to smooth matters by using the evidence that has been generated to inform what we do and say," she said.

Previous AIDS conferences have been marred by tensions between government and activists over the provision of AIDS drugs, and the role nutrition and traditional medicines should play.

"Scientific knowledge about HIV and AIDS is advancing rapidly and there is a need to disseminate and discuss the latest information and insights gained by those engaged in research, policy making, programme implementation and service," said Shisana, who will be one of the conference co-chairs.

She said the programme would give special prominence to people living with HIV/AIDS.

One of the conference's five themes will be dedicated to people living with HIV/AIDS, with a series of "exchange encounters" in which they can share their experiences.

The conference will also explore state-of-the-art developments in prevention technologies new approaches to prevention the long-term impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy on incidence, prevalence, morbidity and mortality the role of nutrition in HIV/AIDS and the role of research into the use of complimentary and traditional medicines in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

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