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Beyond the First 25 Years – The International AIDS Society and Its Role in the Global Response to AIDS
research across the three major scientific tracks – basic, clinical and
Figure 1: Former US President Bill Clinton Was Among a
biomedical prevention science – and to address how advances in
Number of World Leaders Who Participated in AIDS 2006
research can be rapidly applied to practice.
The IAS is also strengthening its commitment to regional development,
expanding its involvement in three main areas: collaboration with
regional societies, engagement with regional conferences and
supporting and expanding IAS membership in each region. The IAS
was a co-organiser of the first Eastern European and Central Asian
Conference on AIDS (EECAAC), held in Moscow in 2006, and has also
provided technical support and advice to other regional conferences.
There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to regional activities. The unique
characteristics of each region require that we build strong relations
with key players in each region, learn all we can about the particular
issues facing HIV professionals there and tailor our activities to meet
the needs and requests for collaboration that we receive.
Several initiatives are co-ordinated by the IAS. The IAS Industry Liaison
Forum (ILF) is designed to accelerate scientifically promising, ethical
research in resource-limited settings, with a particular focus on the
role and responsibility of industry as sponsors and supporters of
research. The ILF supports dialogue among the pharmaceutical membership is important for any professional society, and the IAS is
industry, independent investigators and major contributors to research looking at ways to expand its role in this area in order to strengthen
investment such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The IAS, the capacity of the HIV workforce.
through both the ILF and its work with the Gates Foundation, has
become a significant force in placing pre-exposure prevention The IAS has been increasingly involved in policy and advocacy debates
prophylaxis (PREP) research on the agenda of policy-makers and over the past two years. It has advocated strongly for the availability of
opinion-leaders. methadone and buprenorphine in Eastern Europe and Central Asia,
where injected drug use is fuelling the epidemic; on the need for
The IAS also co-publishes with Medscape General Medicine the greater political accountability in terms of setting and meeting
electronic Journal of the International AIDS Society (eJIAS), a peer- treatment and prevention targets through the UN General Assembly
Special Session (UNGASS) process; and on the need for increased
investment in training, hiring and sustaining the human resources
required for scaling up prevention, treatment and care programmes in
the developing world. A detailed policy and advocacy strategy,
The International AIDS Society has a
currently in development, will ensure that the IAS is an effective
unique opportunity … to utilise the advocate for its membership, ensuring that its voice and influence on
expertise and knowledge of its
key policy issues is heard, in collaboration with other stakeholders
engaged in the response to HIV/AIDS.
members in an effective, sustained
global response.
The IAS has a unique opportunity – and responsibility – to bring
together individuals working in diverse settings and disciplines from
areas of the world separated by geography, culture, language and
resources, and to utilise the expertise and knowledge of its members
in an effective, sustained global response. If there is a lesson to be
reviewed, open-access scientific journal aimed at publishing research learned from our history with this disease, it is that we can do far more
focused on the developing world. It is fully indexed on PubMed and collectively than we can individually. As the IAS embarks on an
available at www.eJIAS.org ambitious new phase in its development, it is looking forward to
strengthening its engagement with the scientific community, while
In addition to these initiatives, the IAS is also increasingly involved in also building new partnerships with NGOs, activists and others
the development and delivery of a range of education and training working on the frontlines of the response.
programmes designed to help individuals working in HIV advance
professionally; this includes administering the HIV Research Trust The IAS encourages all professionals working in the HIV/AIDS field to
Training Scholarships and developing an IAS Education Programme for become members. We are convinced that in the struggle against this
IAS 2007. Providing education and training opportunities for its epidemic we will be stronger together. ■
1. CDC, Pneumocystis pneumonia – Los Angeles, MMWR CDC Surveill Summ, 1981;30:250–52.
EUROPEAN INFECTIOUS DISEASE 2007 19
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