AFC Front and Center at AIDS 2010

AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) was front and center for all of the action at the biennial XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) held last week in Vienna, Austria. 

The biggest story of the conference was the release of exciting research findings showing that an anti-HIV gel, or microbicide, was partially effective at preventing HIV in women in South Africa.  This marks an important step in the development of new prevention technologies.  The International Rectal Microbicides Advocates (IRMA), for which AFC serves as secretariat, hailed the release of the findings and helped explain their significance in the quest for a safe and effective rectal microbicide.

Another much-talked-about subject in Vienna was the Obama Administration’s newly-minted National HIV/AIDS Strategy.  AFC Vice President David Ernesto Munar (pictured) presented a poster on grassroots advocacy around the Strategy and spoke on the topic at a session on HIV/AIDS in the USA and Canada.

Here’s what else AFC was up to at AIDS 2010:

• Arturo Valdivia Bendixen, Vice President of Programs and Partnerships, presented a poster on the Chicago Housing for Health Partnership.

• Jim Pickett, Director of Advocacy, was featured in video coverage of the Global on MSM and HIV pre-conference.  Scroll to the 5:00 mark to see Jim talk all about rectal microbicides.

• David Ernesto Munar interviews The Pleasure Project.

• The HIV Prevention Justice Alliance (HIV PJA), of which AFC is a founding member, covered the opening of the conference and HIV PJA leader Waheedah Shabazz-El gave the final speech at the closing session.