7th ICAAP Will Focus Attention on Science and Community

TREAT Asia to Host Three Sessions at Kobe Meeting

July 2005—TREAT Asia will have an active presence at the 7th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) in Kobe, Japan, 1–5 July. Recognizing that without the active involvement of local communities, an effective decentralized response to HIV/AIDS will not be possible, ICAAP has chosen the theme “Bridging Science and Community” for the conference—a perspective that will inform TREAT Asia’s presentations.

On Saturday 2 July, TREAT Asia will sponsor a satellite symposium spotlighting four countries’ national treatment programs, which could influence the nature of HIV treatment in the region. Aimed at front-line HIV/AIDS care and services providers, the meeting will feature presentations by a panel of experts from China, India, Indonesia, and Thailand, followed by a discussion addressing some of the larger questions of antiretroviral therapy in the region. Moderators will be Aikichi Iwamoto, MD, of the University of Tokyo, and Kevin Frost, director of TREAT Asia.

TREAT Asia and the Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (APN+) will also offer a skills-building workshop focusing on community-driven treatment education programs in China, Viet Nam, and Cambodia. The workshop, facilitated by Jennifer Ho, community education program manager for TREAT Asia, and Siroat (Ken) Jittjang of APN+, will address the challenges faced by community groups from resource-limited settings in conducting treatment education. Community project leaders from the participating countries will help run the workshop.

Additionally, the latest data from the TREAT Asia HIV Observational Database (TAHOD) will be discussed on 4 July. Titled “Experience With the Use of a First-Line Regimen of Stavudine, Lamivudine, and Nevirapine Among TAHOD Patients,” the presentation will examine issues surrounding the management of patients on this regimen who experience treatment failure. This particular ARV combination is frequently used in Asian countries because the individual drugs are available generically and in a convenient combined and fixed dose formulation.

Throughout five days of meetings, ICAAP will present a broad variety of forums, symposia, posters, skills-building workshops, and cultural presentations, including discussions of the power of political commitment and leadership; stigma and discrimination; major policy efforts such as WHO’s “3 by 5” initiative, the results of which will be evaluated at the end of this year; and the latest developments in prevention methods such as vaccines, microbicides, and pre-exposure prophylaxis. A session is also planned on how religious taboos regarding HIV may be overcome, and another on promoting sexual health among youth. With the burden of HIV/AIDS being borne increasingly by women, ICAAP will also feature several additional sessions related to gender issues.

For additional information, visit the ICAAP web site at www.icaap7.jp.