HIV/TB sessions at IAS 2007

22-24 July 2007 | Sydney, Australia

The TB/HIV Working Group Secretariat of the Stop TB Partnership has organised a satellite symposium in conjunction with the 4th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, treatment and prevention in collaboration with Forum for Collaborative HIV Research in collaboration with Agence nationale de recherches sur le sida (ANRS), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS/TB Epidemic (CREATE), the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership Programme (EDCTP) International AIDS Society, National Institutes of Health and Tibotec. The satellite symposium will be held on Sunday July 22, 2007 at 12:30-14:30 in Hall B. The goals of this satellite symposium are to 1) increase awareness of and interest in, the urgent need to include TB diagnosis, prevention and treatment issues into the HIV clinical research arena and 2) discuss with programs and sponsors opportunities for increased focus on HIV-TB coinfection and examples of supportive and facilitating programs they may offer. The panel discussant in this satellite symposium include Michel Kazatchkine (Executive Director of the Global Fund for AIDS,TB and Malaria), Michel Sidibe (Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS), Debrework Zewdie (Director, Global AIDS Programme, World Bank) and Kevin DeCock (Director of HIV/AIDS Department, WHO).

Urgent Call For New TB Research

From the International AIDS Society Daily Bulletin report July 23, 2007. Full Bulletin available at: http://www.ias2007.org/admin/images/upload/858.pdf

Sydney, Australia -- Tuberculosis (TB) kills approximately two million people every year, and is the leading cause of death among people with HIV. Each illness builds on the devastation caused by the other, with the most extreme effects seen in the regions least equipped to cope, according to participants in a satellite sponsored by the TB/HIV Working Group of the Stop TB Partnership. Underscoring the urgent need for better diagnosis, Renee Ridzon of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation observed, "It's not a question if people in Africa will get TB but when."

Sunday's satellite, entitled HIV/TB Co-Infection: Meeting the Challenge, was convened to discuss critical gaps in research on the intersection of the two pandemics, made even more urgent by the recent emergence of extensively drug resistant TB (XDR-TB). Organizers are hopeful that major HIV funders will help fill these gaps, given the deadly implications of TB for people living with HIV. According to Michel Sidibe, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, who was a participant in the meeting, an estimated $2 billion would be needed annually to make a quick and major difference.

An oral abstract session on July 23, (MOAB1,11:00, Bayside Auditorium B) will feature five oral abstract presentations on the topic of HIV/TB co-infection.