AIDS Society of India, an NGO set up by medical practitioners engaged in the treatment of HIV infection, is organising its first national conference in New Delhi during April 2 -4. World-renowned faculty in HIV medicine and research from around the globe are to share insights, experience and vision during the conference (ASICON).
Announcing this at a press conference here, ASICON organisers said that Jaipal Reddy, Union Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Culture, would inaugurate the event. Dr David C. Mulford, US Ambassador to India would be the chief guest. ASICON is to have the presence of nearly 700 doctors from different specialties dealing with HIV. There would be over 100 oral and 70 poster presentations, they informed.
"The ASICON 2005 is expected to answer several questions of the doctors managing HIV/AIDS in India which will ultimately result in better care for those afflicted with HIV disease leading to better quality and enhancement of the lives of those people at affordable cost, yet with international standards", Dr Suniti Solomon, president ASI said.
"The doctors in our country are ill equipped to treat HIV cases. While the official HIV positive cases in the country are about 5.5 million, the actual figures could be around 10 million. About 2 million of these patients are yet to diagnose their problem as the physicians whom they consult are not equipped enough to trace the root cause of the problem" Dr I S Gilada, secretary general ASI said.
According to him, ASICON 2005 is the first major initiative undertaken in the country to create awareness among the medical practitioners. The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and US Dept. of Health and Human Services (DHHS)/National Institutes of Health (NIH) are co-sponsoring the event, he explained.
The issues to be discussed in the conference include "epidemiology of HIV infection, role of donors in response to global HIV / AIDS epidemic, immono-pathogenesis of HIV disease, issues in HIV diagnosis, incidence assays, monitoring HIV infected persons, quality assurance for laboratories, opportunistic infections and malignancies in HIV/AIDS, antiretroviral therapy (ART), drug resistance in HIV/AIDS, HIV Management in women and children, prevention, behavioural, social challenges, HIV in special populations, principles of HIV vaccines , challenges in development, HIV vaccine trials in India and linking prevention with care".
The eminent faculty include renowned authors of the textbook on HIV/AIDS Management John Bartlett and Joel Gallant (John Hopkins University USA), Robert Bollinger, Adriana Andrade, David Celentano, Kenneth Freedburg, Mark Dybul, Kenneth Mayer, Charles Carpenter and Timothy Flanigan, Paolo Miotti, Mark Wainberg, Dr H Fleury, Kimberley Brouwer, Tim Mastro, Lihua Xiao and Bharat Parekh, Martin Adelmann, Suzanne Crowe and John Wotherspoon from Australia, Costance Corrino, USAID, Harriet Robinson, Swarup Sarkar, Nirupama Sista etc.
Union Minister for Youth and Sports Sunil Dutt will be the Chief Guest on April 3rd. Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare will inaugurate the valedictory function on April 4. The conference has also received support from UNAIDS, International AIDS Society, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and companies like Cipla, Emcure, Roche, Aurobindo, Ranbaxy, Alkem, Beckam Couklter and Becton Dickinson and Abbot Laboratories.