As many of you know, the next International AIDS Conference is right around the corner, taking place this July in Washington, D.C. This is a crucial venue for activists, researchers, funders and service providers working on MSM and transgender issues to come together, share information and forge new partnerships to enhance their work with these key populations.

Despite the importance of the event to the health and human rights of MSM and transgender people, issues concerning these populations have been poorly represented at International AIDS Conferences in the past. At the last International AIDS Conference, only 2.6% and 1.1% of all sessions were dedicated to MSM and transgender issues respectively. It is time for this to change.

To help ensure that there is an appropriate number of MSM and transgender abstracts represented at the upcoming conference in Washington, the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) encourages everyone doing HIV prevention and treatment work with these populations around the world to submit an abstract to the International AIDS Conference.

In order to give those abstracts the highest chance of being accepted, the MSMGF is offering technical assistance to anyone submitting an abstract focused on MSM and transgender people.

How This Works

The MSMGF has put together a panel of highly qualified reviewers, all of whom have extensive experience with producing abstracts for international conferences, to aid you in the development of your abstract.

Simply send your abstract to abstracts@msmgf.org and we will connect you with a reviewer. You can submit as many abstracts as you like, and once you have incorporated comments into a new draft, we welcome you to submit the updated version for a new round of feedback.

A Few Things to Keep in Mind

The official AIDS 2012 abstract guidelines can be found at http://www.aids2012.org/Default.aspx?pageId=477. Please review this before beginning work on your abstract.

AIDS 2012 also offers an Abstract Mentor Program, the details of which can be found at http://www.aids2012.org/Default.aspx?pageId=464.

Deadlines

The deadline to submit your final abstract for the conference is February 15th!

We ask that you submit your abstract to our team at least two weeks before this deadline to give ample time for us to provide comments and for you to incorporate them.

Webinar: Tips for Writing a Successful Abstract for AIDS 2012

In addition to the Abstract Assistance Team, the MSMGF and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) are offering a webinar on how to develop successful abstracts for AIDS 2012.

                Date: Wednesday, January 18, 2012

                Time: 09:00 AM EST (see other time zones)

                Duration: 1 hour

You must register beforehand in order to attend. Further details on the webinar and registration can be found at: https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/s/showReg?udc=n25eubqd6j1a.

Questions

Any questions can be directed to abstracts@msmgf.org.

Thank you very much! We hope you all choose to submit an abstract on these important issues. We look forward to working with you!

Best regards,

The MSMGF Secretariat