Kaiser/CSIS Briefing on the 2008 HIV/AIDS Implementers' Meeting

The CSIS HIV/AIDS Task Force and Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation jointly hosted a briefing on the morning of July 1, 2008 in Washington, DC to reflect upon the 2008 HIV/AIDS Implementer’s Meeting that took place last month in Kampala, Uganda..  The briefing featured Ambassador Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, and a panel discussion by Stephen Morrison, Executive Director of the CSIS HIV/AIDS Task Force; Janet Fleischman, Chair of the CSIS HIV/AIDS Task Force Committee on Gender; Alicia Carbaugh, Senior Policy Analyst, HIV Policy, Kaiser Family Foundation; Dr. Caroline Ryan, Senior Advisor on HIV Prevention and Technical Team Leader, OGAC; and moderated by Jennifer Kates, Vice President and Director of HIV Policy, Kaiser Family Foundation. 
 
The briefing included remarks from Ambassador Dybul, who outlined the history of the Implementers’ meeting from its origin as a United States government event to its current role as a multi-lateral forum co-sponsored by many different partners, including international organizations, governments, and civil society.  Ambassador Dybul reflected upon several major themes including increased country ownership, the importance of human resources development, and the enthusiasm of the over 1,600 implementers, who participated from various sectors of government and civil society. 
 
Following Ambassador Dybul’s remarks, Dr. Caroline Ryan gave an overview of the major themes covered at this year’s presentations:
 
1)      Knowing Your Epidemic
2)      Integration
3)      Human Capacity Development
4)      Prevention
5)      Treatment and Care
6)      Monitoring and Evaluation
 
The challenges posed by prevention took a central role in the discussion, particularly the lack and difficulty of capturing data on prevention efforts as well as the difficulties of addressing epidemics in vulnerable populations like men who have sex with men (MSM) and injection drug users (IDUs).  The panel also discussed the surprising lack of focus on gender, and the importance of more fully addressing gender and the integration of reproductive health and HIV services at next year’s implementers’ conference.  The briefing underscored the significance of annually convening HIV/AIDS implementers to share information and best practices and provided an important forum to bring the key outcomes of the Implementers’ Meeting back to the Washington, DC policy community.

Watch the Webcast of the Event:

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/healthcast/kff/01jul08