TREAT Asia Prepares for 15th International AIDS Conference

April 2004—At the much-anticipated 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, July 11–16, TREAT Asia will participate in a number of key ways.

TREAT Asia will conduct a satellite symposium entitled “Understanding the AIDS Epidemic in Asia: The Treat Asia HIV/AIDS Observational Database.” TREAT Asia investigators from India, China, and other countries will present a picture of the HIV epidemic throughout the region. The TREAT Asia HIV/AIDS Observational Database (TAHOD) is the first database in Asia to track patients through stages of disease, treatment, side effects, drug resistance, and treatment failure. Data from the database will provide the most robust look yet at treatment in the region.

TAHOD investigators Dr. N. Kumarasamy, Medical Officer and Researcher at YRG Care in Chennai, India and Dr. Jialun Zhou, research assistant at the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, will present the latest data from TAHOD. The poster presentation entitled, “Response to triple combination antiretroviral treatment in patients from Asia-Pacific: an analysis of retrospective data from the TREAT Asia HIV/AIDS ObservationalDatabase,” will offer valuable insight into how effective highly active antiretroviral therapy is for patients in Asia and how well it is being tolerated.

Throughout the conference, the TREAT Asia booth will be stocked with information and copies of the TREAT Asia Report. We will have staff on hand to answer questions about TREAT Asia and its activities in the region. We look forward to seeing you there!