News and Events

December 2009

The following upcoming international conferences will be of interest to those concerned with the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS among injecting drug users and/or HIV/AIDS prevention and care among injecting drug users:

AIDS 2010 18 – 23 July 2010 Vienna, Austria

The theme for the 2010 conference is Right Here, Right Now.

Rights Here, Right Now emphasizes the central importance of protecting and promoting human rights as a prerequisite to a successful response to HIV. The right to dignity and self-determination for key affected populations, to equal access to health care and life-saving prevention and treatment programmes, and the right to interventions based on evidence rather than ideology, are all incorporated in this urgent demand for action.

Rights Here, Right Now emphasizes that concrete human rights measures need to be in place to protect those most vulnerable to and affected by HIV, especially women and girls, people who use drugs, migrants, prisoners, sex workers, men who have sex with men, and transgender persons.

Rights Here, Right Now also emphasizes the location of the conference in Vienna, chosen in part for its proximity to Eastern Europe and Central Asia, a region experiencing one of the fastest growing epidemics that is fuelled primarily by injecting drug use. It also underscores this critical moment in time for the global epidemic – with the 2010 deadline that world leaders set for providing universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support on the immediate horizon. Rights Here, Right Now is a call for leadership, accountability and action.


Harm Reduction 2010 25 – 29 April 2010 Liverpool, England

The theme for the 2010 conference is Harm Reduction: The Next Generation.

The conference theme for 2010 is ‘Harm Reduction: The Next Generation’. There are now two and a half decades of harm reduction experience. A substantial body of evidence shows the feasibility and effectiveness of harm reduction in a wide variety of social and cultural settings. But what is needed as we move through to the third decade of harm reduction? How adequate are the models of harm reduction that have been developed? Is the ‘comprehensive package’ of harm reduction for HIV sustainable in low and middle income countries? How can we expand harm reduction to cater for all psychoactive drugs? When we ‘scale-up’ harm reduction, should we just replicate and expand pilots and projects or work to integrate harm reduction into health systems? How does harm reduction intersect with, and change, drug control systems? What new opportunities are there for harm reduction in terms of human rights, security, development and other sectors?

This theme will be reflected throughout the conference programme, and has been carefully chosen to embody:

Young People – who are both directly and indirectly affected by drug use around the world, and must be engaged in the global harm reduction and drug policy dialogue
New Populations – including regions such as Africa and Latin America, which have often been overlooked by harm reduction advocates and policies
New Interventions – including the need to address non-injecting use, and to move beyond a focus on opiates and develop effective responses for stimulant users and emerging drugs and trends
New Challenges – including the need to improve global resourcing for harm reduction, and to improve quality as well as coverage around the world
In essence, IHRA plans to use Harm Reduction 2010 as an opportunity to look back over the last two decades and more and reflect on the successes and challenges that we have faced, in order to move forward

ICAAP 2010 9 – 13 August 2010 Bali, Indonesia

The theme for the 2010 conference is empowering people – Strengthening Networks

The vision of the congress is: A vibrant community of empowered people, linked by strong networks that reach across Asia and the Pacific and beyond to mobilize a holistic and effective response, based on the latest best practices and scientific evidence, to the specific and cross-border challenges of the HIV pandemic faced by countries in the region today.

The goal of the congress is: To promote scientific excellence and inquiry, provide a forum for meaningful dialogue, foster accountability, and encourage individual and collective action in addressing HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific and ensure the sustainability of the response..