Ethiopia to Host 16th International Conference on HIV/AIDS
November 18, 2011
AIDS patient Anna Bosigo (L) has her leg massaged by volunteer worker Lydia Mbhalo, of the Sakhi-Sizwe AIDS care initiative, in the Orange Farm township, south of Johannesburg, August 23, 2011.
The Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, is making final preparations to host the 16th international conference on HIV/AIDS in Africa. The conference will bring together more than 7,000 delegates, including health professionals and scientists on the front lines of the battle against sexually-transmitted infections
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Roughly 22.5 million of the world's 33 million AIDS sufferers are in Africa. So the conference opening December 4 is aimed at raising public awareness.
Ethiopia's Health Minister Tewodros Adhanom calls the weeklong event an opportunity to share information about state-of-the-art approaches to prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.
"Our main objective is really to learn from others," said Tewodros. "There will be scientific knowledge and best practices in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment care and support, and other things we can learn from the world or the participants. We are really keen to learn, and we will have a chance to show to the world what we are doing."
This biennial conference comes 30 years after the discovery of the AIDS virus. While the number of AIDS deaths has been steadily decreasing since 2004 as antiretroviral drugs become more commonly available, sub-Saharan Africa still bears an inordinate share of the global HIV burden.
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