XIV International AIDS Conference 2002
Barcelona, Spain
Fira de Barcelona Conference Center (Plaça d'Espanya), Hall 2.5
7 July 2002, 12:30-16:30pm
Satellite Meeting to the XIV International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain
Organized by Health GAP (Global Access Project)and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
Time to treat: Transforming AIDS treatment from right to reality
An estimated 40 million people are currently infected with HIV worldwide, 95% of whom live in the developing world. The overwhelming majority of people with HIV/AIDS still do not have access to life-prolonging treatment. Recent advocacy efforts have brought together people living with HIV/AIDS, clinicians, AIDS activists, and other experts from both developing and developed countries to fight for the common goal of equitable and sustainable access to affordable HIV treatment in developing countries. These campaigns have focused unprecedented international attention on the access crisis, and have achieved some significant victories. But dramatic shifts in policy have not yet translated into broad improvements in access to affordable medicines in the developing world. Millions of people continue to die each year from HIV/AIDS for lack of access to treatment.
“TIME TO TREAT”—a half-day satellite meeting preceding the opening ceremonies of the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2002) organized by Health GAP and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)—will include reports from people living with HIV/AIDS, AIDS activists, and medical professionals leading efforts to implement and expand HIV treatment programs in developing countries. The meeting will also focus on overcoming remaining barriers to wide-scale HIV treatment implementation in the developing world.
Key questions to be addressed:
- How are people with HIV/AIDS and their allies bridging the gap between the right to AIDS treatment and the reality of access to medicines?
- Which models of care, treatment, and procurement of medicines are most appropriate and effective in resource-limited settings?
- How can advocacy efforts and demonstration treatment programs be sustained, expanded, and duplicated?
- What national, regional, and international policy struggles lie ahead?
Agenda
12:30 Welcoming remarks
- Morten Rostrup, MD, President, International Council, MSF
- Alan Berkman, MD, Co-founder, Health GAP
12:45 Reprots from the frontlines
Session I – 12:45-13:30
Agitation and education: local, regional, and international activist efforts to expand and sustain treatment access in resource-poor settings
Moderator: Ezio Tavora dos Santos Filho, Grupo pela Vidda (Brazil)
- Sipho Mthathi, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)
National and regional efforts to expand access to treatment
- Paisan Tan-Ud (Thailand)
Prices, patents, and a ticking clock: transforming India's patent laws to promote HIV drug access
- Erickson Chiclayo, Gente Positiva & Central American Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (REDCA+) (Guatemala)
Fighting for sustainable access to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS in Central America
Session II – 13:30-14:15
Successes and challenges implementing antiretroviral treatment programs in resource-limited settings: learning by doing
Moderator: Joost van der Meer, MSF (Ukraine)
- Jean-Michel Tassie, MD, MSF/Epicentre (France)
The results are in: clinical evidence in nine MSF field programs in Africa, Asia & Latin America demonstrating feasibility of HAART in low- and middle-income settings
- Fred Minandi, MSF (Malawi)
Treatment adherence strategies and peer support: the role of people living with HIV/AIDS in implementing successful ARV programs
-
Tito August, MD (South Africa)
The ARV treatment project in Khayelitsha: from ethical imperative to public health evidence
14:15 Coffee break
14:35 Implementing victories & overcoming obstacles: confronting the ongoing challenges
SESSION I – 14:45-15:30
Addressing ongoing challenges in providing low-cost, sustainable quality supplies of medicines
Moderator: Ellen ‘t Hoen, MSF (France)
- Hanne Bak Pederson, UNICEF (Denmark)
The lay of the land: quality issues and an overview of current prices of essential AIDS drugs from generic and proprietary sources
- Carmen Perez, MSF (Spain)
Price reduction offers from Big Pharma: untangling the web
- Krisana Kraisintu, Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (Thailand)
Local production: a long-term solution
Session II – 15:30-16:15
Expanding treatment in resource-limited settings: tools and techniques
Moderator: Asia Russell, Health GAP (USA)
- Koulla Shero, MD, National AIDS Program (Cameroon)
Scaling up national programs through strategic procurement: the Cameroon experience
- Jonathan Berger, AIDS Law Project (South Africa)
Implementing the Doha Declaration
- Prof. Brook Baker, Northeastern University School of Law and Health GAP (USA)
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: fulfilling or betraying the promise of treatment?
16:15 Closing remarks
Mark Heywood, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)