NIDA International Program Supports AIDS Treatment as Prevention Workshop Participants

The NIDA International Program supported the participation of scientists from Argentina, Peru, and South Africa at the 2nd International HIV Treatment as Prevention Workshop, which was held April 22–25, 2012, in Vancouver, Canada. The meeting was organized by Julio S.G. Montaner, M.D., University of British Columbia, and featured a keynote address by U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby about the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) perspective on treatment as prevention. NIDA Director Nora Volkow, M.D., spoke at an opening plenary session roundtable discussion that also featured representatives from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, World Health Organization, and the French Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le Sida.

The NIDA International Program supported Stephen D. Lawn, M.D., South Africa, Maria Eugenia Socias, M.D., Argentina, and Carlos F. Caceres, M.D., Ph.D., Peru, who joined academic, policy, industry, and community representatives at the meeting. Participants reviewed emerging data and identified priority areas for research and action related to the impact of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) use among HIV-infected individuals on the transmission of HIV infection. Dr. Lawn, who works at the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Cape Town, discussed the impact of ART on tuberculosis control during an oral presentation session on that topic. Dr. Socias, who works at the infectious diseases unit of the Hospital Juan A. Fernández in Buenos Aires, discussed a pilot study investigating provider‐initiated HIV testing on hospital admission during an oral presentation session on initial results of Small Business Technology Transfer outcomes.