Scientific Programme Vision

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The vision of the AIDS 2010 Scientific Programme is to provide a dynamic, interactive forum for the presentation, debate and validation of the latest, state-of-the-art research, policy and programme evidence that will inform and guide the global response. This vision will guide the work of each of the six scientific tracks as they focus on three primary goals:

1. To accelerate the scale-up of evidence informed combined approaches to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support that protect the human rights of all people, male, female, and transgender, young and old, living with and affected by HIV, men who have sex with men, people who use illicit drugs, people who sell sex, people who are in prison or detention, refugees and people who migrate or are forcibly displaced; 
    
2. To highlight excellence in biomedical, epidemiological, behavioral, social, economic, political, and operational research and in multi-disciplinary science; and 
    
3. To discuss the impact of the HIV response on health and social systems, including the potential for HIV to transform health and development programmes for today and for generations to come.

To accomplish these goals, the AIDS 2010 Scientific Programme will address cutting-edge issues of interest to a range of disciplines, and foster multidisciplinary reflection among researchers, practitioners, activists and other stakeholders on what has been accomplished to date and what remains to be done.

The vision and goals will serve as the basis for building both abstract-driven and invited sessions of the AIDS 2010 Scientific Programme.

As context, remarkable progress has been made in the engagement of community and national leaders in HIV programmes, the scale-up of HIV responses, and the expansion of research throughout the world. However, universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support has not yet been achieved. The current global economic challenges must intensify, not jeopardize, the current momentum.

Confronting the AIDS epidemic has demanded unprecedented inter-disciplinary collaboration, and commitment to applied science. The partnerships forged in the global AIDS response – public/private, community/academic, south/south and north/south – have not only opened new doors, they also have led to the development of new approaches to old challenges related to economic and social development. Now more than ever, health, education and social change are essential to advancing human development. Confronting the HIV epidemic will avert further devastation of lives, families and communities; it is a path towards achievement of broader development goals.

To halt and reverse the epidemic by 2015, resources must be secured to keep up the momentum. The global HIV community must rally around renewed and energized efforts to protect human rights and prevent HIV transmission and effectively manage and treat those living with HIV.