Jhpiego takes part in
8th International
Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific
29 August 2007
This August, Jhpiego staff joined more than 2,500 delegates, from more than 20 countries throughout Asia and Oceania, for the
8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. The conference, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, brought together politicians, government officials, medical experts, academics, people living with HIV/AIDS, community workers and members of the media to discuss a wide range of issues regarding the epidemic in this region.
The goal of the conference, entitled Waves of Change,- Waves of Hope, was to enhance the local, regional and global response to HIV/AIDS. At the gathering, Jhpiego staff members Jeffrey Smith, MD, MPH, Regional Technical Director for Asia, and Joseph Nikisi, MD, Zambia HIV/AIDS Advisor, talked with attendees about Jhpiego’s increasing efforts in HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Smith explains, “The situation in Asia is quite different from Africa, where it [HIV/AIDS] is a generalized epidemic, spread mostly through heterosexual sex. In Asia, it is a concentrated epidemic with the most at-risk groups being commercial sex workers and their customers, intravenous drug users, and men who have sex with men. This calls for different interventions and approaches.”
Since 2002, Jhpiego has worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through its University Technical Assistance Program in support of the Global AIDS Program. Jhpiego is partnering with The Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health to design, implement and monitor country-specific, comprehensive HIV/AIDS programs, and to serve as a technical resource for state-of-the-art training materials and HIV/AIDS care and treatment guidelines, protocols and standards.
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Dr. Joseph Nikisi talks with ICAAP attendees at the Jhpiego booth
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Dr. Joseph Nikisi at the Jhpiego booth at ICAAP 8
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About Jhpiego
For nearly 40 years, Jhpiego, (pronounced "ja-pie-go"), has empowered front-line health
workers by designing and implementing simple, low-cost, hands-on solutions that
strengthen the delivery of health care services, following the
household-to-hospital continuum of care. We partner with community- to
national-level organizations to build sustainable, local capacity through
advocacy, policy and guidelines development, and quality and performance
improvement approaches.
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