The International AIDS Society is an association of HIV professionals, with 11,035 members from more than 160 countries working at all levels of the global HIV response. Its mission is to lead collective action on every front through its membership base, scientific authority and convening power. IAS members include researchers from all disciplines, clinicians, public health and community practitioners on the frontlines of the epidemic, as well as policy makers and programme implementers. The IAS is the steward of the world's two most prestigious HIV conferences: the biennial International AIDS Conference and the IAS Conference on HIV Science. The current IAS President is Anton Pozniak. Past presidents have included Helene D. Gayle, Joep Lange, Peter Piot, Linda-Gail Bekker and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi. The IAS's headquarters are located in Geneva.
History
The IAS is a non-profit organization founded in 1988, with a mandate to organize the International AIDS Conference. Initially, the IAS headquarters were in Stockholm, and Lars-Olof Kallings was the secretary general from 1988 until 2003. In 2004, the IAS restructured its organization, expanded the number of professional staff and moved the headquarters to Geneva. The move was intended to strengthen organizational links with other health NGOs and multilateral agencies.
Conferences
International AIDS Conference
The International AIDS Conference is the world's most attended conference on HIV and AIDS, and the largest conference on any global health or development issue in the world. First convened during the peak of the AIDS epidemic in 1985, they were held annually until 1994 when they became biennial. Each conference continues to provide a unique forum for the intersection of science, advocacy and human rights, as well as to strengthen policies and programmes that ensure an evidence-based response to the epidemic. The 22nd International AIDS Conference was held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on 21-27 July 2018. Primary topics of note included: Use of Dolutegravir as an antiretroviral medication was reported to result in increased rates of birth defects where the brain and spinal cord have openings - Neural tube defects. Particularly of note was that an HIV infected person on treatment with undetectable virus does not spread it to an uninfected partner. The 23rd International AIDS Conference will be held in San Francisco and Oakland, United States, on 6–10 July 2020.
IAS Conference on HIV Science
The IAS also organizes the IAS Conference on HIV Science . This conference, the largest open scientific conference on HIV- and AIDS-related issues, occurs biennially and focuses on the biomedical aspects of HIV. The conference brings together professionals from around the world to examine the latest scientific developments in HIV research, prevention and treatment with a focus on moving science into practice and policy. It was held in Buenos Aires in 2001, Paris in 2003, Rio de Janeiro in 2005, Sydney in 2007, Cape Town in 2009, Rome in 2011, Kuala Lumpur in 2013, Vancouver in 2015 and Paris in 2017. will be held in Mexico City, Mexico on 21–24 July 2019. The conference was called the IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention until a name change after 2015.
Publications and other resources
The society financially supports the publication of the Journal of the International AIDS Society , an online, open-access, peer-reviewedmedical journal covering all aspects of research on HIV and AIDS. The IAS Online Resource Library is an online collection of abstracts and other resources from international conferences, as well as numerous other materials produced by the IAS launched in January 2010.
Other activities
The IAS works with other regional HIV/AIDS societies and networks to strengthen the capacity of HIV professionals to respond to the epidemic at the regional level. The society runs the Industry Liaison Forum, whose mission is to remove barriers to research investment by the pharmaceutical industry in resource-limited settings. The IAS also provides professional development and training opportunities for HIV professionals at both international and regional AIDS conferences through its education programme.
