National Summit on HIV/AIDS Convenes November 17-19 in Washington With Focus on Accelerating Routine HIV Testing; Advancing the National HIV/AIDS Strategy

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At a time when an estimated 56,300 Americans become infected with HIV every year, the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research will convene its 2010 National Summit on HIV Diagnosis, Prevention and Access to Care to intensify the nation's prevention and detection efforts.

Taking place just before World AIDS Day, the 2010 National Summit on HIV Diagnosis, Prevention and Access to Care (November 17-19, 2010 at the National Harbor in Maryland) will bring together an estimated 300 scientists, clinicians, public health leaders and advocates to draw the roadmap for achieving routine HIV testing of all Americans ages 13-64 – considered the single most important strategy for reducing the spread of HIV. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), of the more than one million Americans now living with HIV, an estimated 21 percent -- 200,000 people -- are unaware they are infected. Among HIV-infected adolescents, 50 percent are unidentified.

"The 2010 National Summit is designed to create the pathway for accelerated adoption of routine HIV testing and for increasing patients' access to care – two strategies that will dramatically reduce HIV transmission and better support people living with HIV," said Veronica Miller, Ph.D., Director of the Forum. "Our goal is to take up the current challenges presented by the HIV epidemic to move the science of prevention, care and treatment forward."

The summit will also highlight health care reform, its impact on people with HIV/AIDS and address the immediate priorities for implementing the Obama Administration's National HIV/AIDS Strategy, just released in July 2010. As such, this scientific assembly is one of the largest meetings to address the emerging issues in the prevention, treatment and linkage to care of people with HIV/AIDS.  

"There has never been a time when action is more important to maintain the nation's progress in combating HIV/AIDS," said John Bartlett, MD, Professor of Medicine, Chief, Johns Hopkins AIDS Service, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a co-chair of the upcoming Summit. "An intensified focus on routine HIV testing and new strategies for HIV diagnosis, prevention and treatment are essential.  We must prevent HIV/AIDS from reaching crisis proportions in this country."

Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to Be Honored; Will Give Major Address on November 18

One of the highlights of the 2010 national summit will be recognizing the efforts of former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop in charting the nation's policy on HIV/AIDS. In honor of Dr. Koop's many contributions to HIV/AIDS research, education and advocacy, National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci will present the first C. Everett Koop HIV/AIDS Public Health Leadership Award to Dr. Koop at a special awards ceremony during the lunch plenary on November 18. Dr. Koop will then give a national address to the HIV/AIDS community reflecting his lessons learned over 25 years in combating HIV/AIDS.

Top Government Officials; HIV/AIDS Experts to Speak at the Summit

Widely considered the premier venue for researchers, providers, advocates and policy makers to discuss the current state of affairs and the steps needed to move forward in eliminating the HIV epidemic in the U.S., the 2010 National Summit will feature 125 scientific abstracts that chart the wealth of ongoing efforts to support routine testing and linkage to care.

"HIV/AIDS continues to be the most significant pandemic of our times, despite increasingly effective treatment and promising new approaches for prevention," said Kenneth H. Mayer, MD, Professor of Medicine & Community Health at Brown University, Director of the Brown University AIDS Program, and the other co-chair of the upcoming Summit. "Accelerating the course towards routine HIV testing and linkage to care must be based on the state of the science and lessons learned at the community level."

In addition to new scientific papers, the Summit will also feature plenary sessions where some of the top government and scientific leaders will discuss the extent of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the U.S., the impact of health reform on increased access to care for HIV/AIDS patients and immediate priorities for implementing the Obama Administration's National HIV/AIDS Strategy.  Highlights include:

Wednesday, November 17; 5:00 PM EST

• Dr. Kevin Fenton, Director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP) will provide an update on the extent of HIV/AIDS in the U.S.
• Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services (HHS) will highlight health care reform and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy
• Dr. Kimberly Smith, AIDS researcher and Associate Professor of Medicine at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, will provide the real world perspective of fighting HIV/AIDS in the U.S.

Thursday, November 18; 1:30 PM EST

• Dr. Bronwen Lichtenstein, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama will examine and address the impact of stigma as a barrier to HIV testing and prevention efforts
• Debra Hawks, Senior Director, Practice Activities, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) will discuss provider engagement and the implementation of perinatal HIV testing in the U.S.

Friday, November 19; 10:00 AM EST

• Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), addressing the role of research in implementing the National HIV/AIDS Strategy
• Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health (HHS), addressing the federal government's priorities in implementing the National HIV/AIDS Strategy
• Jeff Crowley, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy and Senior Advisor on Disability Policy at the White House, focusing on next steps in implementing the National HIV/AIDS Strategy

The Forum for Collaborative HIV Research designed the 2010 National Summit in partnership with the American Academy of HIV Medicine, the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, the HIV Medicine Association, Kaiser Permanente, the National Association of Community Health, and the National Black Gay Men's Advocacy Coalition. Federal agency partners are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Veterans Administration (VA).

Registration for the National Summit is complementary for members of the media. Please contact [email protected] to register.

About the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research

Now part of the University of California (UC), Berkeley School of Public Health and based in Washington, DC, the Forum was founded in 1997 as the outgrowth of a White House initiative. Representing government, industry, patient advocates, healthcare providers, foundations and academia, the Forum is a public/private partnership that organizes roundtables and issues reports on a range of global HIV/AIDS issues. Forum recommendations have changed the ways that clinical trials are conducted, accelerated the delivery of new classes of drugs, heightened awareness of TB/HIV co-infection, and helped to spur national momentum toward universal testing for HIV. http://www.hivforum.org

SOURCE Forum for Collaborative HIV Research