After more than a two-decade absence, the International AIDS Conference will return to the United States next week.
Up to 25,000 people from around the globe will converge on Washington, D.C., July 22-27 to discuss the latest developments in all fronts in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The conference was last held in the United States, in San Francisco, in 1990 but, three years later, the federal government enacted legislation to prevent travel into the country by HIV-positive individuals, making the U.S. an infeasible host. In 2010, however, that restriction was lifted by the Obama administration, paving the way for the upcoming event.
Guests will hail from about 200 countries and are expected to range from activists to researchers to government officials to everyday people affected by the disease.
The conference, staged by the International AIDS Society, based in Geneva, aims to address trends in science and community activism, foster new leaders to advocate for those with HIV/AIDS and promote the idea of accountability for policymakers. While participation in the sessions is fee-based, the conference’s Global Village area will present an array of events and discussions that are free and open to the public.
Local HIV/AIDS advocate Waheedah Shabazz-El will be among the Philadelphia attendees.
Shabazz-El was a plenary speaker at the 2010 conference, held in Vienna. She said that event impressed upon her the necessity of funding for HIV/AIDS research.
“Science is at a place right now that if we can just get the political and financial support, we’re going to be closer to leveling out AIDS than we ever have been. And once we level the numbers, we can start to lower them,” she said. “With the combination of science and prevention justice — with treatment as prevention — we’re so close, but we need the people with the pocketbooks to support this fight. It’s in our grasp.”
Shabazz-El said she anticipates a hearty representation by Philadelphians at the conference.
ACT UP Philadelphia and AIDS Fund are among the local organizations mobilizing people to head to the conference July 24 for a large-scale demonstration and march.
ACT UP member Jose DeMarco said he expects about 500 locals to turn out for the event.
The “We Can End AIDS” initiative will include five separate marches, each calling for a distinct action — an end to pharmaceutical greed, a tax on the nation’s richest to offset cuts in HIV funding, the ceasing of the war on women, the creation of full HIV funding and sound public policies and the protection of human rights and support of harm-reduction efforts.
All five marches, which are expected to draw thousands, will converge at the White House.
The local ACT UP chapter, along with groups including HIV Prevention Justice Alliance and Drug Policy Alliance, is leading the final march.
Demonstrators in this action will press for the decriminalization of populations such as those with HIV, LGBTs, sex workers, drug users and immigrants; speak out against mass imprisonment and privatization of prisons; and oppose exclusionary tactics employed by policymakers and politicians.
“We’re looking to build power and visibility for the folks who are most marginalized,” DeMarco said. “We’re working for the people who may be forgotten in the movement and who may not be able to access the services that are out there because of the economic situation right now — folks who are homeless, who need needle exchange, black [men who have sex with men], African-American women, queer people in general. We want to be the voice for all those who are most marginalized.”
Advocating for unrepresented populations will also be a primary goal of Shabazz-El. An advisor for Positive Women’s Network, she said she’s eager to see an increased focus on populations such as women in efforts like the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, released two years ago this month.
“We need to pressure our government to make sure that those people who are most impacted are part of every aspect of the strategy,” she said. “We need a commitment from the government to implement the plan in a way that is more inclusive of populations that weren’t focused on enough in the original document, particularly women. This epidemic is not going to end unless we count all people in, including women — trans women, all women everywhere — and look at the social, political, economic violence against women that causes us to be more vulnerable to HIV infection in the first place.”
A group of local agencies is planning a mid-September event where conference attendees can review and disseminate the information discussed at the conference with locals.
Free buses will depart Philadelphia for the July 24 demonstration at 7 a.m. from Broad and Walnut. Lunch will be provided. The buses are expected back in Philadelphia by 8 p.m.
For more information or to register, visit http://bit.ly/actup2dc or email [email protected].