Plenary Speakers
SUNDAY, 18 JULY
Yves Souteyrand
PhD, Coordinator of the Strategic Information Unit in the World Health Organization’s HIV/AIDS Department in Geneva, Switzerland
Yves Souteyrand is the Coordinator of the Strategic Information Unit in the World Health Organization’s HIV/AIDS Department in Geneva. He has held this post since 2004 after serving previously as Senior Adviser to the Director of the Department. Dr. Souteyrand received his PhD from the University of Aix en Provence and has worked at the French Ministry of Health as a researcher in charge of implementing research programmes in public health and health systems research. Between 1993 and 2003, Dr. Souteyrand was Head of Public Health and Socio-Behavioural AIDS Research for the National Medical and Health Research Institute (INSERM). Dr. Souteyrand leads the publication of the annual global progress report on the health-sector response to universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, care and treatment, published by WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS. He is a member of the UNAIDS/WHO Working Group on Global HIV/AIDS and STI Surveillance and one of the publishers of the biannual AIDS epidemic update.
Topic: State of the Epidemic - HIV Epidemiology: Progress, Challenges and Human Rights Implications
Co-Authors for published paper: Kort, R. Canada; Shakarishvili, A. Georgia; Rehle, T. South Africa; Garcia-Calleja, T. Spain
Paula Akugizibwe
Advocacy Coordinator at the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa, South Africa
Paula Akugizibwe is the Advocacy Coordinator at the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA), which conducts training and advocacy in the Southern African region to improve access to and quality of TB and HIV services, and advances a human rights–based response to health. Prior to joining ARASA in 2008, Ms. Akugizibwe worked as a procurement analyst at the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative in Rwanda, coordinating supply of second-line and paediatric antiretrovirals to Rwanda and Burundi. She also has experience working in community pharmacy and with human rights organizations in Botswana. Ms. Akugizibwe has served on technical advisory groups for the Southern African Development Community and the World Health Organization on issues related to TB. She has a Bachelor of Pharmacy and is currently completing her Master in Public Health (Epidemiology) at the University of Cape Town.
Topic: State of the Epidemic: Human Rights and the Response
Co-Authors for published paper: Grover, A. India; Clayton, M. Namibia; Maleche, A. Kenya
Sharon Lewin
FRACP, PhD, Director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at The Alfred Hospital; Professor of Medicine at Monash University in Melbourne; and Co-Director of the Centre for Virology, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia
Sharon Lewin is an infectious diseases physician and basic scientist. She is Director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at The Alfred Hospital; Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Monash University; and Co-Director of the Centre for Virology, Burnet Institute, all in Melbourne. She completed her medical training at Monash University, followed by a PhD in virology at the Burnet Institute and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, The Rockefeller University in New York City. Dr. Lewin heads a research laboratory that aims to understand why HIV and hepatitis B virus persist and evade the immune system. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed publications and has received competitive research funding from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Wellcome Trust. Dr. Lewin is the immediate past president of the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine, the peak body in Australia that represents health professionals and scientists who work in HIV medicine.
Topic: State of the Epidemic: Strategies for a Cure
Co-Authors for published paper: Chomont, N. Canada; Elliott, J. Australia; Spire, B. France; Evans, V. Australia
MONDAY, 19 JULY
Vuyiseka Dubula
General Secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign, South Africa
Vuyiseka Dubula is General Secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), where she founded several TAC branches and programmes. She has served as a member of TAC since 2001and was elected to her current position in 2008. Ms. Dubula is committed to ensuring that People Living with HIV have a positive voice in the struggle and that woman and girls have access to health services and equality in a society free of gender and sexual violence. Ms. Dubula is the National Representative for People living with HIV in the South African National AIDS Council, the Chairperson of the AIDS Law Project and a member of the Global Task Force on Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV. She has presented and published in multiple national and international health and human rights conferences and was nominated recently as one of the Mail and Guardian “300 Young South Africans you have to take to lunch.” Ms. Dubula holds a BA in health sciences and social services from the University of South Africa. She is currently completing her Honours in Psychology from the University of South Africa.
Topic: Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention
Co-Authors for published paper: Trossero, A. Argentina; Pascal, R. Chile; Baker, C. United States; Heywood, M; South Africa
Anya Sarang
President of the Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice in Moscow, Russia
Anya Sarang is President of the Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice in Moscow where she works on advocacy for access to health and protection of human rights, as well as dignity for people who use drugs and humane drug policies. For the past 11 years, her work has focused on developing and supporting the emerging harm reduction movement in Russia through various training and networking activities. Ms. Sarang has been closely involved with harm reduction development in Eastern Europe and Central Asia through her membership in the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network. She has also been involved in research on drug use and HIV, including epidemiological and behavioral studies and qualitative research on issues such as barriers to harm reduction services, police and human rights, access to HIV treatment, management of drug use, prisons and drug policy.
Topic: HIV, Drug Policy and Harm Reduction
Co-Authors for published paper: Wolfe, D. United States; Barrett, D. United Kingdom; Dorabjee, J. Australia; Schleifer, R. United States; Rhodes, T. United Kingdom; Rhodes, T. United Kingdom
Former President William J. Clinton
Founder, William J. Clinton Foundation, 42nd President of the United States
Elected President of the United States in 1992, and again in 1996, President Clinton was the first Democratic president to be awarded a second term in six decades. President Clinton previously served as the Governor of Arkansas, chairman of the National Governors’ Association and Attorney General of Arkansas.
Since 2001, President Clinton has dedicated himself to philanthropy and continued public service through the William J. Clinton Foundation, which is focused on finding practical and measurable solutions to address pressing challenges at home and abroad. In addition to his Foundation work, President Clinton joined with former President Bush to help with relief and recovery following the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, and to lead a nationwide fundraising effort in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He also served as U.N. Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery from 2005 to 2007.
Established in 2002 by President Clinton as the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) initially focused on addressing the limited access to HIV/AIDS treatment faced by developing countries, where more than 90 percent of individuals living with HIV/AIDS reside. By working in collaboration with governments and NGO partners, CHAI has been able to expand treatment access and save lives.
Since its inception, CHAI has helped more than 2 million people access the medicines needed for treatment, which represents nearly half of all the people living with HIV and on treatment in developing countries. Building on its model, CHAI has expanded its scope to include efforts to strengthen healthcare delivery systems and to combat malaria and tuberculosis. .
TUESDAY, 20 JULY
Anthony Fauci
MD, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, United States
Anthony S. Fauci is Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the NIH. Since his appointment as NIAID Director in 1984, Dr. Fauci has overseen an extensive research portfolio devoted to preventing, diagnosing and treating infectious and immune-mediated diseases. He is also Chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation, where he has made numerous important discoveries related to HIV and AIDS and is one of the most-cited scientists in the field. Dr. Fauci, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, has received numerous awards for his scientific accomplishments, including the National Medal of Science, the Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has received 34 honorary doctoral degrees and is the author, coauthor or editor of more than 1,100 scientific publications, including several major textbooks.
Topic: New Concepts in HIV/AIDS Pathogenesis: Implications for Interventions
Aaron Motsoaledi
Minister of Health, South Africa
Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi was appointed South Africa's Minister of Health in May 2009. A medical practitioner by training, Dr. Motsoaledi has a long history of public service focusing on strategies to address poverty, unemployment and access to services. A member of the African National Congress, Dr. Motsoaledi has served in a number of roles in South Africa's Limpopo Province, including as the former Acting Premier and as a member of the executive council (MEC).
Topic: Universal Access: Treatment and Prevention Scale-up
Everjoice Win
Head of Women’s Rights at ActionAid International, Zimbabwe
Everjoice Win is Head of Women’s Rights at ActionAid International in Harare. Ms. Win is a feminist and has been active in the women’s and social justice movements in Zimbabwe and the African continent for the greater part of her life. She has worked with the Women’s Action Group and the pan-African Women in Law and Development in Africa, and served as consultant to many local and international NGOs. At ActionAid, an anti-poverty agency working in 50 countries globally, she leads the work on women’s rights, which includes providing overall strategic guidance and support on programmes and campaigns. Ms. Win has also served as Commonwealth Advisor to the Commission on Gender Equality of South Africa and on the boards of several civil society and women’s rights organizations. She is a founding member of the pro-democracy National Constitutional Assembly of Zimbabwe, and was a spokesperson for the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition. She currently sits on the board of the Women and AIDS Support Network in Zimbabwe, ActionAid Malawi, and is a member of the Civil Society Advisory Committee of the United Nations Development Programme. She is a regular writer and contributor to newspapers, magazines and journals.
Topic: Violence Against Women and Girls
Co-Authors for published paper: Rothschild, C. United States; Mukhia, N. South Africa; Ndlovu, G. South Africa
WEDNESDAY, 21 JULY
Bernard Hirschel
MD, Professor of Medicine at Geneva University Medical School; Head of the Section of HIV/AIDS in the Division of Infectious Diseases; and Director of the Clinical Research Center at the Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland
Bernard Hirschel is Professor of Medicine at Geneva University Medical School, Head of the Section of HIV/AIDS in the Division of Infectious Diseases, and Director of the Clinical Research Center at the Geneva University Hospital. His main area of research is in antiretroviral therapy (ART), particularly in novel treatment strategies, including planned interruption of ART and the effectiveness of treatment in prevention. Dr. Hirschel has authored or co-authored over 300 papers in the scientific literature, book chapters and a textbook on HIV infection. He is a member of numerous scientific societies and his service on editorial boards includes the New England Journal of Medicine from 1998 to 2006. Dr. Hirschel received his degree from the Geneva University Medical School.
Topic: Anti-HIV Drugs for Prevention
Co-Authors for published paper: Timberlake, S. Switzerland; Amon, J. United States
Ellen 't Hoen
LLM, Senior Adviser for Intellectual Property and Medicines Patent Pool at UNITAID, Switzerland
Ellen 't Hoen is Senior Adviser for Intellectual Property and Medicines Patent Pool at UNITAID. She is a lawyer and an expert in medicines policy and intellectual property law. From 1999 to 2009 she was the Director of Policy and Advocacy at Médecins sans Frontières' Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines. In 2008 she was a research fellow at the IS HIV/AIDS Academy of the University of Amsterdam. She is the author of the book The Global Politics of Pharmaceutical Monopoly Power: Drug patents, access, innovation and the application of the WTO Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health, published in January 2009.
Topic: A Proposal for Change: Managing Patents for Access to AIDS Medicines for All
Co-Authors for published paper: Moon, S. United States; Berger, J. South Africa
James Hakim
MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences, Zimbabwe
James Hakim is Professor of Medicine at the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences where he is Director of the University of Zimbabwe Clinical Research Centre. Dr. Hakim has been on the faculty of the University of Zimbabwe since 1992 and was Chairman of the Department of Medicine from 2001 to 2006. He is also the Site Leader of the University of Zimbabwe-University of California San Francisco Clinical Trials Unit. Dr. Hakim graduated from Makerere University Medical School in Uganda and then specialized in internal medicine at the University of Nairobi, Kenya and the Royal Colleges of Physicians in the United Kingdom. He later received training as a clinical epidemiologist with the University of Newcastle in Australia.
Topic: ART Advances: Into the Next Decade
Co-Authors for published paper: Chisada, A. Zimbabwe; Nhando, N. Zimbabwe; Samaneka, W. Zimbabwe; Clayton, M. Namibia
THURSDAY, 22 JULY
Carlos Cáceres
MD, PhD, Professor of Public Health at Cayetano Heredia University and Director of the Institute of Studies in Health, Sexuality and Human Development, Peru
Carlos F. Cáceres is Professor of Public Health at Cayetano Heredia University and Director of the Institute of Studies in Health, Sexuality and Human Development, in Lima. He obtained his medical degree from Cayetano Heredia University in 1988 and his masters and doctoral degrees in public health/epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1991 and 1996. He started his career over 20 years ago doing research in sexuality, sexual health and HIV epidemiology and prevention, and more recently became involved in the analysis of health systems, structural determinants of HIV epidemics, and social change from a human rights perspective. With a significant number of peer-reviewed publications, he is one of the founders of the International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society and served as Chair from 2008 to 2009. At present he is Co-Editor of Sexuality, Health and Society and a member of the UNAIDS Prevention Reference Group.
Topic: Combination HIV Prevention: Moving from Debate to Action
Co-Authors for published paper: de Zalduondo, B. United States; Hallett, T. United Kingdom; Avila-Figueroa, C. Mexico; Clayton, M. Namibia
Elaine Abrams
MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology at the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and the Mailman School of Public Health, New York, United States
Elaine Abrams is Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology at the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and the Mailman School of Public Health (MSPH) in New York. She is Director of the MTCT-Plus Initiative at the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP) at MSPH where she is responsible for HIV care and treatment programmes for pregnant women, children, and families in Africa and Asia and for developing and supporting ICAP's paediatric and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) agenda. Dr. Abrams was also recently appointed ICAP's Senior Director for Research. Dr. Abrams has served as Director of the Family Care Center at Harlem Hospital in New York City until 2005. She conducted extensive research on MTCT and the natural history of paediatric HIV. She has also played a key role in the design and conduct of multiple clinical trials and is currently the Chair of the Primary Therapy Scientific Committee of the NIH-funded IMPAACT network. Dr. Abrams serves as an advisor for the World Health Organization and U.S. Public Health Service where she participates in guideline development for pediatric care and PMTCT. She received a BA in biochemistry from Princeton University and her MD from the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons.
Topic: Vertical Transmission
Co-Authors for published paper: TBC
Meena Saraswathi Seshu
General Secretary of Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha, India
Meena Saraswathi Seshu is General Secretary of Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha, an organization based in Sangli, India, which has worked for the empowerment of people in sex work, including mobilization for HIV-related peer education since 1991. In 1996 this work broadened into the organization of a collective of women in prostitution called VAMP (Veshya Anyay Mukti Parishad). Ms. Seshu has worked with marginalized populations, particularly rural women, adolescents and people in sex work, on HIV and AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, violence against women, and gender and sexual minority rights through grassroots, rights-based organizations in Karnataka and Maharashtra. She has more than 10 years experience with global movements addressing violence against women and sex workers' rights.
Topic: No Excuses: A Living Experience of the Struggle for Rights - Jonathan Mann Memorial Lecture
Co-Authors for published paper: Csete, J. United States; Cohen, J. United States
Jonathan Mann Memorial Lecture
The Jonathan Mann Memorial Lecture was inaugurated at the XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa. The lecture is sponsored and supported by the Global Health Council.
The Jonathan Mann Memorial Lecture honours the memory and legacy of one of the key figures of the 20th century in the fight against global poverty and illness. Mann (1947 - 1998) is best remembered for his extraordinary contributions as the visionary physician and public health official who clearly articulated the connection between poverty and ill-health.
A crusader against AIDS and a champion for human rights, Mann played a major role in focusing public attention on the fact that prejudice and discrimination were helping to drive and spread the epidemic.
Founder and the first head of the World Health Organization's Global Programme on AIDS, and the first director of Harvard's François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, Mann believed that improved health couldn't be achieved without basic human rights.
Jonathan Mann and his wife, Mary Lou Clements-Mann, herself a world-renowned immunologist, were killed in the deadly crash of Swissair Flight 111 in September 1998.
FRIDAY, 23 JULY
Dmytro Sherembey
Director of the Department of Communications, Policy and Advocacy at the All-Ukrainian Network of PLHA, Ukraine
Dmytro Sherembey is Director of the Department of Communications, Policy and Advocacy at the All-Ukrainian Network of PLHA. Mr. Sherembey has been HIV-positive for 14 years and was incarcerated from 1992 to 2001. While in prison, he studied philosophy and taught himself English. Following his release in 2003, Mr. Sherembey became a volunteer at the harm reduction project Stupeni in Chernigiv. That year, he co-founded and eventually became head of the first regional branch of the All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH, the Chernigiv Regional Branch of the Network of PLWH. In 2005 he was elected to the Coordination Council of the All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH, became Deputy Chair, and has represented the Network's interests on regional, national and international levels ever since.
Topic: HIV and Incarceration: Prisons and Detention
Manfred Nowak
PhD, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Professor of International Human Rights Protection at University of Vienna and Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, Austria
Manfred Nowak is Professor of International Human Rights Protection at University of Vienna and Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights. He is one of the most significant scholars and experts in the international human rights field. As a researcher and practitioner, he has authored numerous books and articles. He received the UNESCO Prize for the Teaching of Human Rights and was head of the European Master's Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation (E.MA) in Venice from 2000 to 2007. He has performed a range of different tasks for the United Nations, including service as the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture since December 2004.
Topic: HIV and Incarceration: Prisons and Detention
Co-Authors for published paper: Jürgens, R. Canada; Day, M. St. Lucia
Liz Gwyther
MB ChB, FCFP, MSc Pall Med, CEO of the Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa; Senior Lecturer and Head of the Palliative Care Unit within the School of Public Health and Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town, South Africa
Liz Gwyther is CEO of the Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Town where she heads the Palliative Care Unit within the School of Public Health and Family Medicine. She received her medical degree (MB ChB) from the University of Cape Town in 1979, and worked as a general practitioner in Zimbabwe and South Africa until 1993. She began working in hospice care on a voluntary basis in 1993 and obtained MSc in Palliative Medicine from the University of Wales College of Medicine in Cardiff in 2003. Dr. Gwyther is active in palliative care training and education in hospice development programmes, and is a strong supporter of home-based care programmes. She is currently a director of the National Hospice Palliative Care Organization in the U.S., a trustee of the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance, a director of the Pain Society of South Africa and a member of the executive committee of the Networking AIDS Community of South Africa. In 2007, Dr. Gwyther received the South African Medical Association’s Gender Award for Human Rights in Health and the South African Institute of Health Care Managers' Leadership in Health Systems Award.
Topic: Care and Support: Integral to Comprehensive Care
Co-Authors for published paper: Mundeta, B. South Africa; Lohman, D. United States; Hayes, S. United States; Harding, R. United Kingdom
David Thomas
MD, MPH, Chief of Infectious Diseases and the Stanhope Bayne-Jones Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, United States
David Thomas is Chief of Infectious Diseases and the Stanhope Bayne-Jones Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Thomas is trained in internal medicine and infectious diseases and cares for patients with infectious diseases, including chronic viral hepatitis. He also oversees clinical research projects focused on understanding the natural history and pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus infection. Liver disease in HIV-infected persons is a special area of clinical and research focus. He is the principal investigator on numerous National Institutes of Health grants, the author or co-author of over 150 peer-reviewed publications and holds a U.S. patent. Dr. Thomas serves on numerous editorial and advisory boards.
Topic: Hepatitis C: Cure and Control, Right Now
Co-Authors for published paper: Zabransky, T. Czech Republic; Leoutsakas, D. United States; Kumar, M.S. India