Stakeholders in the HIV/AIDS community who were unable to take part in this summer’s International AIDS Conference will have the opportunity to catch up on conference highlights this month in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Post-Conference Hub will include a review and discussion of the conference’s most salient topics Sept. 19 and 20.
Staged by the Black Treatment Advocates Network and the African American HIV University of The Black AIDS Institute, in partnership with an array of local health and HIV/AIDS agencies, the conference will be geared toward clinical providers the first day and community members, prevention workers, advocates and others impacted by the epidemic on the second.
BTAN co-chair Danielle Parks and program director at Health Federation of Philadelphia said the Hub is an opportunity for those who attended the conference, held in the United States for the first time in more than two decades, to share their multi-faceted experiences.
“The conference was somewhat expensive so we wanted to make sure that folks who attended can take what they learned back to their communities and get the information dispersed,” Parks said.
The first session, expected to draw about 50 clinicians, will be held from 5-8 p.m. at Public Health Management Corporation, 260 S. Broad St., and will include presentations by Drs. Rafik Samuel and Robert Bettiker, both of Temple University’s Section of Infectious Diseases.
The second event will be held from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 20 at Temple University’s Center City campus, 1515 Market St. in Room 222, and is expected to draw about 100 attendees.
That day’s discussions will be divided into four focus areas: men who have sex with men; youth; heterosexual women and men of color; and transgender individuals.
Some of the sessions will be aided by videotaped segments from the International AIDS Conference, which will be brought into local focus by the presenters.
Among the scheduled speakers are Drexel University Department of Community Health and Prevention associate professor Dr. Lisa Bowleg, Family Services Association of Bucks County health educator Nathan Townsend, Black AIDS Institute founder and executive director Phil Wilson, Positive Women’s Network advisor Waheedah Shabazz-El and Haven Youth Center executive director and founder William Brawner.
“A lot of folks don’t have access to the research going on behind the scenes,” Parks said. “So this is an opportunity to educate the community and make sure everyone is well-versed on the science around HIV and to get people around the table and riled up to fight for the issues.”
Both days’ events are free.
Parks said the sessions will allow for discussions on the local, national and international efforts to stem the tide of HIV/AIDS.
“I think people who work in the HIV field often don’t get the chance to hear what’s going on globally,” she said. “We want to look at what’s happening here in our country and also the innovative things that are being done outside of the country and see how we can apply that to here in Philadelphia. I came back from the conference with a new sense of fire around HIV, and that’s what we want to share with everyone else.”
To register, visit www.blackaids.org/philadelphia.
