The circus comes to town: the 18th International AIDS Conference
So, the 18th International AIDS Conference has just finished, and as always the event was a constellation of ‘happenings’, breaking news, advocacy, colour, serious science, serious people, not so serious people, and (this being Vienna) a lot of cake.
This was my 6th such event, and there are striking similarities between them all. At each one, there are a couple of important announcements (in Vienna, they were around a possible cure for HIV, and research suggesting microbicides DO work after all). There’s also all the demonstrating by lobby groups, seeking attention for neglected causes – in Vienna these included human rights, the homeless, and injection drug users. There’s ALSO all the complaints about what was missing – so, some African delegates were unhappy with the focus on Europe, other delegates were concerned about gender issues receiving limited attention – again. For this writer, the Global Village was perhaps the best one so far however – with allocated ‘zones’ for disability, sex workers, MSM, etc. a great idea, and the free cakes and drinks a real bonus!
One problem of course is that the conference is just that – a conference. Over the years, people have come to see the event as a representation of what is really happening in the world, because in some ways it becomes its own world. Twenty five thousand delegates construct a bubble of reality – a safe space certainly, and a place where difficult issues can be discussed without the fear of stigma – but at the end of the day it is not reality. Just constructed. For example, releasing key developments – these are held until the conference. Why did we not hear about new developments around microbicides before now? They must have been available for scrutiny earlier this year.
So, next time the conference is in Washington, DC. The first time two developed countries have hosted the event back-to-back since 1998. How will Africans and Asians, with the vast majority of HIV cases, respond?
I wrote some articles for the conference, and IF you’re interested, they are linked below:
