Changing course: Stemming the deadly twin epidemics of HIV and tuberculosis
As alarms sound about a weakening international commitment to global AIDS, scientists will gather in Washington, DC to report on potentially transformative new tools in the battle against this deadly epidemic. US policy is moving backwards at a time when the science is more promising than ever. The diminishing commitment by the US and other donor countries has devastating implications not just for the fight against AIDS, but also the battle against its deadly partner, tuberculosis.
In this timely session - just as U.S. policymakers prepare to make key decisions about global health spending - a group of the nation's leading scientists and advocates will discuss opportunities and challenges for combating the deadly dual epidemics of HIV and TB. Join Anthony Fauci, MD, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation, and other experts to discuss new scientific opportunities and urgent political strategies to reverse the course of the HIV and TB epidemics and the consequences of reduced funding.
WHO: Anthony Fauci, MD, Director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
William J. Burman, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Division of Infectious Diseases
J. Peter Cegielski, MD, MDR-TB Team Leader at CDC's Division of Tuberculosis Elimination (DTBE)
Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, Chief of the Infectious Diseases Division at Harlem Hospital Center; Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Research and Professor of Clinical Medicine and Epidemiology at Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Mark Harrington, Executive Director of the Treatment Action Group
Kenneth Mayer, MD, Professor of Medicine & Community Health at Brown University and Director of the Brown University AIDS Program
Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital
WHEN: 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
WHERE: Reserve Officers Association/Top of the Hill Banquet and Conference Center
One Constitution Ave. NE, Washington, DC (across from the Dirksen Senate Office Building)
Ballroom B, 5th Floor
Metro: Union Station (Red Line)
RSVP: Contact Preeti Singh at psingh@burnesscommunications.com or +1 301 280 5722.
The presentations coincide with the release of a special May 2010 supplement of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, which focuses on the scope of HIV and TB globally and showcases advances in diagnostics, treatment, and prevention.
Among the topics to be addressed:
HIV treatment as prevention: What does the science tell us about this controversial concept?
The TB diagnostic and drug pipeline: How can current innovations revolutionize TB treatment?
The threat of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB): Are we destined to repeat a history of complacency and neglect in our efforts to combat these virulent new strains of drug-resistant TB?
Provided by Burness Communications