International Aids Conference Repack Jun 2026

The conference is uniquely structured around three key pillars to ensure a holistic response to the epidemic: The 25th International AIDS conference (AIDS 2024)

The first International AIDS Conference was held in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1985, at a time when the AIDS epidemic was still in its early stages. The conference was initially met with resistance and stigma, with some hotels and venues refusing to host the event. However, the conference persevered, and over the years, it has grown in size, scope, and influence. Today, the International AIDS Conference is one of the largest and most prominent global health conferences, attracting over 10,000 delegates from more than 150 countries.

Since its inception in 1985, the conference has evolved from a medical meeting into a global movement that shapes health policies, secures funding, and empowers those living with the virus. international aids conference

In recent years, the focus of the IAC has shifted toward the stubborn barriers that remain in the fight against HIV. While scientific progress has made HIV a manageable chronic condition for many, the conference highlights how inequality drives the epidemic. Key populations—including men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, and transgender individuals—often face legal barriers and societal discrimination that prevent them from accessing healthcare.

Themes of recent conferences, such as "Equalize" (Montreal 2022), have explicitly targeted these disparities. The IAC serves as a platform to challenge laws that criminalize HIV transmission or LGBTQ+ identities, recognizing that the epidemic cannot be ended without legal and social reform. By highlighting the intersection of HIV with issues like gender-based violence and racial injustice, the conference broadens the scope of the fight, demanding a holistic approach to public health. The conference is uniquely structured around three key

The International AIDS Conference is more than an annual meeting; it is a historical archive of the world’s relationship with its most persistent modern pandemic. It captures the panic of the early years, the heroic fight for treatment access in the 2000s, and the current struggle for equity and justice. By forcing science and activism to sit at the same table, the IAC has saved countless lives and altered the course of global health policy. As the world moves toward the goal of ending the epidemic, the conference remains an essential beacon, reminding the international community that the end of AIDS will be achieved not only with microscopes and medicine, but with justice and humanity.

For the first time, the event was held in the Global South, forcing the world to confront the massive disparity in treatment access between wealthy and developing nations. Today, the International AIDS Conference is one of

Despite the optimism that pervades the conference halls, the IAC also serves as a somber reminder of the work ahead. The "90-90-90" targets set by UNAIDS—the goal to diagnose 90% of all HIV-positive persons, provide treatment for 90% of those diagnosed, and achieve viral suppression for 90% of those treated by 2020—were missed in many regions. Furthermore, funding gaps and "donor fatigue" threaten the progress made over the last two decades.