Ahead of World AIDS Day, the Obama administration announced on Monday that the United States will host the International AIDS Society's 2012 conference in Washington, D.C. The conference has not been held in the United States for decades because of the US policy barring entry by HIV-positive visitors and immigrants. In October, President Barack Obama announced that the 1987 ban would be overturned, effective early next year.
"Today, I'm pleased to announce that, with the repeal of the ban, the International AIDS Society will hold the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C.," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said. "This conference will draw together an estimated 30,000 researchers, scientists, policymakers, health care providers, activists, and others from around the world."
"On World AIDS Day, let us renew our commitment to ensuring that those infected and affected by HIV - the woman on treatment who is supporting her family, the child who dropped out of school to care for sick parents, the doctors and nurses without adequate resources - that all those who have joined together to fight this pandemic will someday live in a world where HIV/AIDS can be prevented and treated as a disease of the past," Clinton said.
Next year's International AIDS Conference will be held in Vienna, followed by Rome in 2011.
11/30/09
UNITED STATES: Washington to Host International AIDS Forum in 2012
Source: Agence France Presse; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention