July 2004, Bangkok – XV International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2004).
Theme: Access for All - 18,500 participants.The conference theme reflects the goal of universal access to HIV prevention, care and treatment interventions and the growth in political attention and resources since Durban.Thailand is chosen partly for the high presence of PLHIV in the country and because the country has achieved significant reductions in HIV incidence.
Although Thailand registered a wide success, the “war on drugs” began by the Thai government was a big failure with 2,000 deaths and arrests. By hosting the conference there the organizers hope to highlight Thailand’s success while bringing global attention to the downside of criminal justice versus public health approach to injecting drug use.
The need to secure commitment on AIDS from political and other leaders leads to the launch of the Leadership Programme, whose objectives are to promote concrete commitments by political leaders in response to AIDS.
The IAS and partners also pilot the first Global Village and the Youth Programme. The Global village is open to the general public and works as a bridge between local communities and researchers, health professionals, leaders and community representatives taking part in the formal conference proceedings. The Youth Programme is an opportunity for thousands of young people from around the world to discuss the response to the epidemic and to generate new ideas for treatment, prevention and human rights issues.
The Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS)
JIAS was founded by the International AIDS Society and is an indexed, peer-reviewed scientific journal that provides a platform to disseminate essential HIV research with the mission to contribute to an evidence-based response to the HIV epidemic and to support research capacity building in resource-limited settings. Illustrating its role as a valued resource, JIAS has a wide readership with an average of 7,500 readers each month in 2011, JIAS published 59 articles with an acceptance rate around 25%. Nearly 45% of published articles were submitted by researchers from low- and middle-income countries.