2008 International AIDS Conference

Global community converge to combat HIV/AIDS

By Kenneth Miller

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MEXICO CITY -- With an empty thoroughbred race track as a backdrop, the >a href=httpÑ//www.aids2008.org>XVII International AIDS Conference took off to the races in its ongoing global battle to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is mushrooming right here on their fertile Latin soil.

“In Mexico, as in the great majority of countries in the region except for the Caribbean, we have a concentrated epidemic,” said AIDS 2008 co-chair Dr. Luis Soto Ramirez.

Hailed as the bridge between Latin America and the world and incorporating the theme, “Universal Action Now,” the bi-yearly gathering of an estimated 30,000 opened its conference here at The Center Banamex on a cloudless Sunday afternoon.

It is the first time the conference has been held in a Latin country, and the confab will feature a bevy of world doctors, scientist, AIDS activists and individuals infected with the virus, providing solutions and or ideas to the pandemic.

New and already existing preventative strategies, along with those to be developed will be discussed at the conference.

The search for a microbicide or a vaccine will be a major topic of discussion, while advising the use of condoms and preventative measures for drug users sharing needles will also be among the dialogue.

Failure of a highly touted HIV vaccine in 2007 raised tough questions about the best approach to designing such a vaccine and questions whether the HIV vaccine research should continue.

Scientists from the Tulane National Primate Research Center in the United States added a new twist to the vaccine maze with evidence that antibodies do not help control simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in monkeys. Those results confuse expectations in such a nonhuman primate model of HIV infection. African green monkeys did not get sick with AIDS diseases despite high and persistent SIV loads.

Among the other highlights at the conference will be the Black AIDS Institute daily media roundtable panel discussions. The briefings will continually offer updates to the throng of more than 3,000 media members and also offer experts from the Black AIDS Institute’s delegates.