XX International AIDS Conference, 2014
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The XX International AIDS Conference was held in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, Australia from 20 to 25 July 2014 at the
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), colloquially referred to as Jeff's Shed, is a group of three adjacent buildings next to the Yarra River in South Wharf, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The venues ar ...
. It was organized by the
International AIDS Society The International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world's largest association of HIV/AIDS professionals, with 11,600 members from over 170 countries , including clinicians, people living with HIV, service providers, policy makers and others. It aims to ...
. Over 14,000 scientists, campaigners and politicians were expected to attend.


Conference proceedings

From July 20 to 25, 2014, Melbourne, Australia hosted the 20th
International AIDS Conference The International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world's largest association of HIV/AIDS professionals, with 11,600 members from over 170 countries , including clinicians, people living with HIV, service providers, policy makers and others. It aims to ...
. Speakers included Michael Kirby,
Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...
and
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
. Clinton's focus was HIV treatment and he called for a greater levels of treatment provision worldwide; in an interview during the conference, Kirby focused on legal issues and their relationship to medication costs and vulnerable groups—Kirby concluded by calling for an international inquiry:
And what is needed, as the Global Commission on HIV and the Law pointed out, is a new inquiry at international level – inaugurated by the secretary-general of the United Nations – to investigate a reconciliation between the
right to health The right to health is the economic, social and cultural economic, social, and cultural right to a universal minimum standard of health to which all individuals are entitled. The concept of a right to health has been enumerated in international a ...
and the right of authors to proper protection for their inventions. At the moment, all the eggs are in the basket of the authors, and it's not really a proportionate balance. And that's why the Global Commission suggested that there should be a high level of investigation.
Branson, Global Drug Commissioner at the time of the conference, stressed the importance of decriminalizing illicit injecting drug use to the prevention of HIV and, speaking in global terms, stated that "we're using too much money and far too many precious resources on incarceration". The Open Society Foundation launched the "To Protect and Serve How Police, Sex Workers, and People Who Use Drugs Are Joining Forces to Improve Health and Human Rights" report at the conference.


Malaysia Airlines Flight 17

The International AIDS Society confirmed that six delegates were killed in the crash of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian-backed forces with a Buk missile system, Bu ...
that was shot down over eastern
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
on 17 July 2014. The six delegates, including former society president
Joep Lange Joseph Marie Albert "Joep" Lange (; 25 September 1954 – 17 July 2014) was a Dutch clinical researcher specialising in HIV therapy. He served as the president of the International AIDS Society from 2002 to 2004. He was a passenger on Malaysia ...
, were acknowledged during the conference at the AIDS 2014 Candlelight Vigil event. News of the crash broke as the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
was preparing to air a live performance of the '' AIDS Memoir Quartet'', a memorial work by former
ACT UP AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy, ...
activist Lyle Chan. Presenter Julian Day and Lyle Chan dedicated the performance to the crash victims and their families.


References


External links

* International AIDS Conferences International conferences in Australia 2014 in Australia 2014 conferences 2010s in Melbourne 2014 in Victoria (state) July 2014 in Australia {{international-org-stub