I'm here in Paris a few days out from the symposium being held at the Institut Pasteur to mark the 30th anniversary of the discovery of HIV. There's a sense of expectation amongst all of us I think - catching up with colleagues from all ends of the globe to celebrate just where we've come in three decades and where we might be headed is going to make for some fascinating conversation over the next few days!

I do not think we can underestimate the degree to which science has so significantly shifted the direction of an epidemic - HIV science has provided lessons for all of us working in the field but also for many of those working in other branches of medicine. As many of my colleagues will undoubtedly reiterate over the coming days, the role of HIV science in responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic has also changed forever the way in which we deal with global health. More...

By Mats Ahnlund, IAS Advisor

Bill Clinton: - We are only going to support organisations that do things faster and at a lower unit cost.

Bill Gates: - If we push for a new focus on efficiency in both treatment and prevention and we continue [...] to create new tools, we can drive down the number of infections dramatically and start writing the story of the end of AIDS.

What Bill and Bill said in Vienna at AIDS 2010 has greatly influenced us. But the main initiative and drive for the IAS to get involved in working with stakeholders to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of national AIDS programmes, what we now call E2, came from Elly Katabira, our President from 2010 to 2012. More...

On Universal Children’s Day the IAS would like to highlight the importance of this date. On 20 November 1959, the United Nations adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and 30 years later, the Convention on the Rights of the Child . These documents have revolutionised the way children are treated throughout the world and improved countless children’s lives. Yet there is much work still to be done; article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child outlines the following, “States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health”. According to the World Health Organization, at the end of 2011 there were around 3.4 million children living with HIV. These children are definitely not enjoying the highest attainable standard of health. One of the many ways in which their health could be improved is through further research into paediatric HIV and AIDS research. More...

From the early days of the HIV epidemic, the unique nature of the International AIDS Conference and its power to mobilize governments, scientists and the international media, while bringing hope and support to people living with HIV, has played a crucial role in shaping the course of HIV and AIDS.

Looking back, the International AIDS Conferences are signposts in the history of the epidemic, showing us not only where we went, but where we should have gone. Since the very first International AIDS Conference in Atlanta in 1985, when the scientists and public health officials grappling with how to respond to the emerging HIV epidemic gathered together to present an overview of knowledge about the disease, the conference has provided the platform needed to effectively respond to the pressing scientific, economic, social and political contexts of the day. More...