Conference Overview

Background

The Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Conference (EECAAC) is the leading regional forum on public health and HIV/AIDS. The conference has traditionally been held in Moscow, under the leadership of the Russian Government, and with support from UNAIDS, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund) and the International AIDS Society as international co-chairs of the conference organizing committee. The first EECAAC 2006 was attended by close to 1,600 delegates, with fifty countries represented, of which 15 sent official delegations. The second EECAAC 2008 attracted 2,057 participants representing fifty-two countries. Reports of an independent comprehensive evaluation of both conferences show that the vast majority of survey respondents deemed both conferences as ‘successful’ or ‘very successful’.

EECAAC 2009 Conference Purpose

The purpose of the third EECAAC 2009 conference is to strengthen regional cooperation, and join efforts towards fighting HIV/AIDS and achieving the goal of Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment and care. The EECAAC 2009 conference recognizes that universal access includes not only the essential biomedical interventions, but also social justice and human rights considerations that are necessary to overcome stigma and discrimination and reach the most-at-risk target groups including young people and people who use drugs.

Conference theme

The proposed overall theme for the conference is: “Regional cooperation. Join the Efforts for Universal Access”.

Why ECCAAC 2009?

EECAAC 2009 presents a unique opportunity for Eastern Europe and Central Asia to review progress in achieving Universal Access by 2010, and set priorities for the region with special emphasis on prevention among target groups, while taking into consideration peculiarities of the epidemic in each country. EECAAC 2009 will also build on lessons and successes of previous conferences; however, the conference will pay greater attention to the long-wave nature of the epidemic’s development and will take into consideration modeling of potential consequences if adequate action is not taken today.

While the second EECAAC 2008 was held in Moscow, Russia, 3-5 May 2008, a high-level decision was taken to hold a follow up conference in Moscow in October 2009 to maximize strategic developments in the Russian Federation and internationally including:

I. Political Leadership and Financial Commitment: There is increasing political and financial commitment for HIV prevention, treatment and care in Russia, even in the face of a global financial crisis. Russia is set to increase the number of people on ART by 50,000 in 2009, the line of medical drugs is being expanded, hepatitis co-infection for people living with HIV will be enhanced, and funding of NGOs from government budget increased.
II. Chair of Shanghai Cooperation: The Russian Federation is the current chair of the Shanghai cooperation. This presents unique opportunities for advancing the fight against AIDS, and outcomes of the G8 St. Petersburg commitments including for other infectious diseases.
III. Active Engagement of China: Under the leadership of the Russian Government, and through bilateral cooperation, discussions are underway to bring on board the active engagement and participation of China in EECAAC 2009. HIV is high on the agenda of the Government of China; and it was recognized as one of the leading causes of mortality in 2008. China will also bring unique experiences in responding to injecting drug use and HIV including opioid substitution therapy, needle exchange programmes and multi-sectoral collaboration between the Ministry of health and the Ministry of Interior. Experiences from China in scaling up the response to HIV among people who use drugs will be of particular interest for cross-country learning with several countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
IV. Bilateral Partnership with the US Government: There is a growing partnership for research between Russian and US NIH scientists to develop a cluster for vaccine development and strengthen the scientific component of the EECAAC 2009 conference. Holding the conference at this time, will not only enhance partnership and cooperation, but will also foster greater collaboration in research and promotion of evidence in policies, laws and programmes for HIV prevention, treatment, and care.
V. High Level Segment and 52nd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), Vienna 2009: EECAAC 2009 presents an opportunity to reflect on the Political Declaration and other outcome documents, take stock of the HIV epidemic and drug use in the region, provide a platform for reviewing evidence and monitoring the impact of the CND political declaration on the HIV response.
VI. Universal Access 2010 and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2015: 2010 is the target year for achieving the goal of universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment and care. EECAAC 2009 plans to increase active participation, representation and engagement from other countries in the region beyond levels of the first and second EECAAC conferences. Member-country engagement will be enhance through dedicated sessions in which each country will present progress towards universal access, a critical review of challenges and lessons learnt, and what needs to be done to meet universal access targets. This process will provide rich information for processes in 2010 for reviewing Universal Access, and the special Summit on MDGs that will be hosted by the UN Secretary General; and will also enhance the role of the EECAAC as a platform for regional cooperation and accountability on HIV.
VII. International AIDS Conference, AIDS 2010 Vienna: The next International AIDS Conference, AIDS 2010, will be held in Vienna in July 2010. While the venue of the conference provides a bridge to Eastern Europe, it also inadvertently eclipsed the possibility of holding a regional conference in the same year. However AIDS 2010 also provides several opportunities for the EECAAC region including a programme that will pay greater attention to the HIV epidemic amongst people who use drugs, and efforts to ensure that the growing impact of HIV on Eastern Europe and Central Asia is addressed. The decision to hold the third EECAAC 2009 in October was therefore timely in that it enables the region to prepare for meaningful engagement of AIDS 2010 programme planning and development, including strengthening research capacity, reviewing evidence and identifying priorities and continuous challenges for the region. Following EECAAC 2009, the next EECAAC conference will therefore be held in 2011.

Conclusion

The International Co-Chairs of the EECAAC 2009 Conference organizing Committee invite you to join us in backing the conference, mobilizing support to ensure its success, and commit additional funding to ensure the conference meets is objectives including increasing participation to a target of 2,500 delegates.