XVII International AIDS Conference: From Evidence to Action - AIDS 2008 and the global response to AIDS

The impact of the XVII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2008) was reflected in a number of commitments from political and business leaders, who announced initiatives ranging from implementing comprehensive sexual education for young people in Latin America to reducing regulatory barriers and the price of drugs in the host country. The unprecedented media coverage brought attention and public awareness to the epidemic in Latin America. Several meetings and sessions at AIDS 2008 also addressed the potential for the International AIDS Conference to play an even stronger role in tracking progress towards universal access and in improving accountability in the global response to AIDS, particularly given some of the inherent weaknesses in the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) review process. The impact of AIDS 2008 was strongest in Mexico, the host country, and in Latin America. Highlights included the policy changes announced by President Calderon on pharmaceutical manufacturing to the focus on sex workers and gay and other MSM in marches, activism and the conference programme. The next two years will determine whether the successes reported in Mexico are sustained and whether there is progress in addressing the barriers that continue to hamper an evidence-based response to HIV/AIDS. The next International AIDS Conference is scheduled for the universal address deadline of 2010.