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International AIDS Society
Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the International AIDS Society (IAS) and our Austrian and international partners, it is our pleasure to invite you to participate in the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010), to be held in Vienna, Austria, from 18 to 23 July 2010.

AIDS 2010 will mark an important milestone: the deadline by which world leaders have committed to ensuring universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. The conference will be an opportunity to evaluate progress to date and to identify what must be done, both individually and collectively, to achieve this critical goal. With an estimated 25,000 participants and 2,500 media in attendance, the eyes of the world will be upon Vienna.

Throughout history Vienna has served as a crossroad between Western and Eastern Europe, and our host city will continue to play such a role at AIDS 2010. The Eastern European and Central Asian region is home to an estimated 1.5 million people living with HIV, cases that are driven primarily by injecting drug use, but increasingly through heterosexual transmission. The challenges in the region – as well as the opportunity for action – are therefore considerable.

Our local partners -- including the City of Vienna, the Government of Austria and local scientific and community leaders -- have a long history of leadership on HIV, and we very much look forward to working with them, and with our international partners and institutions, to plan one of the strongest and most dynamic conferences yet. Our international and regional partners for AIDS 2010 include: the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, including its co-sponsors, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations; the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS; the World YWCA; Caribbean Vulnerable Communities; European AIDS Clinical Society and the East European & Central Asian Union of PLWH.

In the context of a world economic crisis that threatens to stall important gains in international health and development, it is particularly important for HIV professionals to engage their political leaders and urge their communities to push forward with bold, evidence-based action. We hope to see you in Vienna, where together we will advocate universal access, accountability, and ultimately, an end to AIDS

Kind Regards,

Julio Montaner, MD
Conference Chair
President, International AIDS Society
Director, BC Centre for Excellence
in HIV/AIDS
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Brigitte Schmied, MD
Local Conference Co-Chair
President, Austrian AIDS Society
Otto-Wagner Hospital
Vienna, Austria