Designed To Promote Sustainable Action
Distinguished experts, public officials, and HIV community members will come together at the 2011 Caribbean HIV Conference: Strengthening Evidence To Achieve Sustainable Action November 18–21, to focus on HIV in the Caribbean, where adult HIV prevalence is higher than in any region outside of Sub-Saharan Africa (UNAIDS 2010 Global Report).
Individuals from across the Caribbean are invited to attend the free conference to hear directly from authorities on the clinical, social, and sociopolitical factors influencing the HIV epidemic in the region. The conference is expected to bring together approximately 2,000 individuals from across the Caribbean to learn about scientific research findings, skills-building tools, and best practices, and to participate in networking opportunities.
A Finger on the Pulse…
The conference program was developed by three committees comprising diverse regional individuals from a range of organizations—all with their fingers on the pulse of the HIV epidemic in the region. HIV professionals and community members working across the full span of HIV disciplines and experiences collaboratively developed a program designed to explore cross-cutting issues relevant across the Caribbean and to examine them from multiple perspectives. The meeting is designed to present research findings, lessons learned, collaborative methods, and best practices that are based on the wide range of scientific expertise, cultures, spiritual beliefs, and languages throughout the Caribbean.
"Working collaboratively in a peer-review process, meeting planners developed a focused, abstract-driven conference agenda relevant to HIV stakeholders across the region," said Conference Co-Chair Daisy M. Gely, Professor, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico. "In so doing, they have created a unique opportunity for individuals of diverse backgrounds and interests to come together to examine the many factors influencing HIV in the Caribbean in order to move forward collectively to prevent the spread of HIV, mitigate its impact in the region, and improve our overall response."
From Information to Action
The theme of the conference, "Strengthening Evidence To Achieve Sustainable Action," is woven throughout the agenda. This event is the third Caribbean HIV conference in the past decade, and it is designed to build on successes of the previous events, which demonstrated that regional cooperation and collaboration are key to confronting HIV in the Caribbean.
"The two previous Caribbean HIV conferences provided opportunities for nations of our region to form strong bonds and good institutional cooperation regarding the response to HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean," said Conference Co-Chair Dr. Perry Gomez, Director, National AIDS Programme, Ministry of Health, The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. "Now we need to build upon our previous collaborations and take action to improve access to information on prevention, treatment, and care, and to escalate the campaign to fight stigma and discrimination. By focusing on the sustainability of suggested efforts, we can make a real and long-term impact on the lives of HIV-infected and –affected individuals throughout the Caribbean."
Leading political, scientific, and public health leaders are included in the impressive roster of speakers contributing to the agenda. Visit https://www.2011CaribbeanHIVConference.org/2011-caribbean-hiv-conference-speakers-announced to view a list of some of the featured speakers and session moderators.
The conference will be conducted in both English and Spanish. The multidisciplinary forum is designed to support regional interests and education, and it is open and free of charge to anyone who would like to attend.