8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, Colombo Sri Lanka.

Preparations are well underway in Colombo Sri Lanka to host the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (8th ICAAP) to be held from the 19th – 23rd August 2007.

The theme “Waves of Change, Waves of Hope” represents the collective regional commitment to address and overcome the many challenges of HIV and AIDS.

Despite the ongoing civil conflict between the government and the Tamil Tiger terrorists in Sri Lanka, life goes on as normal in Colombo the commercial capital. After 24 years of intermittent civil war, and 4 cease fire agreements, the 20 million strong population sees the ethnic conflict as part and parcel of their everyday lives. It is business as usual in this beautiful country.

It is important to note that the conflict has never targeted foreigners, and currently does not target civilians. The main conflict zones are around 200 miles away from cities such as Colombo, the commercial capital.

In response to the security concerns of congress participants, several extra security measures will be implemented for participants. Secured buses will be provided from the airport to the hotels on arrival, as well as secured transport from hotels to the congress on a daily basis for all attendees. The venue of the congress is also a high security zone, where vehicles are checked and everyone taking part will be registered.

The pre-Congress meeting, the Marathon Meeting was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in April 2007, to review abstracts of Papers to be presented at the 8th ICAAP.

Attended by twelve international community and scientific advisors from the AIDS Society for Asia and the Pacific (ASAP), the International Advisory Committee (IAC), the International AIDS Society, and UNAIDS as well as members of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), there ensued three days of lively debate, where the international review panel participated in a peer review of each of the 1084 regional abstracts submitted.

Topics ranged from empowering sex worker communities, to reducing risks amongst drug users, the role of religious leaders, reducing stigma, and caring for the affected, orphans and vulnerable communities.

“The Marathon exercise was exciting as we saw the emergence of congress program that was relevant to all stakeholders in the Asia Pacific region. A lot of effort was made to ensure that the congress program addressed the specific epidemics in each of the sub regions and in each of the populations across the AP region. We are happy with the outcome of the Marathon Meetings,” said Kamanee Hapugalle, congress coordinator.

Shiba Phurailatpam, Regional Coordinator of the Asia Pacific Network of

People Living with HIV/AIDS (APN+) said, “We hope there will be participation from marginalized groups despite the political situation in Sri Lanka. We hope it will not affect people’s participation, that it will address stigma and bring about discussion on care and treatment in the region.”

Lasting three full days, the Scientific Sessions of ICAAP 8 – the heart of the Congress - will feature eight concurrent sessions, three times per day. There will be 36 skills building workshops alongside the scientific sessions, with morning and pre lunch plenaries setting the pace for the day. Out of the 1084 abstracts received, 288 were chosen as oral presentations, and 750 as poster presentations. Thirty-six skills building sessions have been finalized and 24 panel discussions will be facilitated by the various organizations taking part.

The scholarship programme aims to offer 1000 places. 500 local, 500 international. Fifty percent of the international scholarships being offered are partially funded the remaining fifty are fully funded, where civil society representatives and People Living with HIV/AIDS will have special preference.

Organizers of the 8th ICAAP are expecting numbers of between 2500 and 3500 people, and encourage any prospective participants to register at www.icaap8.lk Satellite session applications deadlines are also due by the end of May 2007.

The deal will reduce the cost of Aids drugs in developing countries Former US President Bill Clinton has unveiled a major deal with two Indian drugs companies to provide cheaper HIV/Aids drugs to developing nations. The Clinton Foundation’s agreement will cut the cost of what are known as second line anti-retrovirals by 25-50%.  Second line drugs are used when cheaper and earlier forms of treatment fail. The new generic drugs will be made available to people with HIV/Aids in more than 60 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Mr Clinton said seven million people in those countries were in need of treatment for HIV/Aids, but could not afford it.   This drug represents the best chance that science has to offer and we’re announcing this price to help national governments plan for the use of the product in the future. Bill ClintonThe former US president said the deal, forged between the Clinton Foundation and Indian companies Cipla Ltd and Matrix Laboratories Ltd, was “groundbreaking”.  He said that the pact, made in partnership with international drug purchase facility Unitaid, would sharply reduce the costs of treating people living with HIV/Aids in many developing countries.  He said the two companies had worked with the foundation to reduce production costs, partly through the use of cheaper materials and partly through improved technique.  

‘Best hope’  “Less than a year after the launch of an Aids treatment that is one pill, once a day, which is so much easier for people to take, we’re announcing a price of less than a dollar a day for developing countries,” Mr Clinton said in a speech at the Clinton Foundation’s offices in New York.   Mr Clinton’s foundation supplies medicine to 750,000 people “This represents a 45% saving over the price now available in Africa, and up to a 67% saving in many middle income countries,” Mr Clinton added. The lower cost, once-daily pill combines the drugs tenofovir, lamivudine and efavirenz.  “This drug represents the best chance that science has to offer and we’re announcing this price to help national governments plan for the use of the product in the future,” Mr Clinton said.  Mr Clinton was joined by the health ministers of Thailand and Kenya, the chairman of Matrix and France’s ambassador to the US as he made the announcement.  

‘Sky-high costs’  A spokesman from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria, Kingsley Moghelu, told the BBC that the deal will make a big difference in the lives of people requiring these drugs: It takes the fight against Aids really where it is most important  Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria spokesman Kingsley Moghelu “It takes the fight against Aids really where it is most important, ” he said. Second-line therapies are atrociously expensive. They cost 10 times more than first-line therapies. “Whether or not you can afford to buy the medicines, if you need those medicines, is often the difference between life and death.”   Since leaving office in 2001, Bill Clinton has used the foundation that carries his name to tackle the global Aids epidemic. Some 750,000 people are currently receiving drug treatments for Aids through the foundation.  The disease now affects some 40 million people globally, and has killed 25 million since it was first identified in the 1970s. Culled form BBC webpage.  By Ilobinso Paschal,

Ogu Academic Guild