TREAT Asia at the XVII International AIDS Conference

October 2008—TREAT Asia was well represented at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, from 3-8 August. Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman, chair of the TREAT Asia steering committee, delivered a plenary address on harm reduction for injection drug users. Jack Arayawongchai, TREAT Asia's MSM program coordinator, spoke at a pre-conference event on HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM), sharing best practices from Asia that have helped to strengthen MSM advocacy and have encouraged many national governments in the region to support the development of MSM programs.

In addition, TREAT Asia's director of research, Jeffery Smith, presented a report on the progress of LAASER, a collaborative effort supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to build capacity for the monitoring and surveillance of HIV drug resistance in developing countries in Asia and Africa.

TREAT Asia also presented research data from the TREAT Asia HIV Observational Database in two poster sessions. A third poster described the activities of the TREAT Asia Quality Assurance Scheme to standardize HIV genotypic resistance testing. In addition, representatives of the TREAT Asia-affiliated Purple Sky Network presented two posters detailing aspects of their work with MSM and summarized their experience with peer outreach.