Media release for AIDS 2010 (Vienna)

WHAT: BE HEARD! MSM PRE-CONFERENCE TO INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE: World’s Largest Conference on Health and Human Rights of Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) to Address Worsening Global AIDS Crisis among Gay Men.
 
WHEN:
Saturday, July 17:
8:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m., Opening Plenary Session – Key health and human rights leaders to address conference participants / World Health Organization to reveal findings from global study on HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men
10:45 a.m. – 4:05 p.m., Breakout Sessions / Networking Opportunities.
4:05 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., Closing Plenary Session – Key health and human rights leaders to summarize the day’s events.
 
WHO:
Confirmed plenary speakers include:

• Michel Sidibé (Executive Director, UNAIDS)
• Michel Kazatchkine (Executive Director, The Global  Fund)
• Stephen Lewis (Co-Director, AIDS-Free World)
• Mandeep Dhaliwal (Cluster Leader, Human Rights, Gender & Diversities, UNDP)
• The Honorable Congresswoman Barbara Lee (U.S. House of Representatives)
• Chris Beyrer (Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights)
• Christoforos Mallouris (Global Network of People Living HIV)
• Manuela Monteiro (Executive Director, Hivos)
• Joel Nana (Executive Director, The African Men for Sexual Health and Rights)
• Robert Carr (International Council of AIDS Organizations [ICASO])
• George Ayala (Executive Officer, The Global Forum on MSM & HIV)

 
WHERE:
Vienna University of Economics and Business
(Wirtschafts Universitat Wien - WU)
Augasse 2-6, no S.
1090 Vienna, Austria
 
MORE:
More than 100 of the world’s top experts on human rights and HIV among sexual minorities will lead presentations and workshops in Vienna on July 17 at BE HEARD, an all-day conference event to address soaring global rates of HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM) and the roles of homophobia and stigma in fueling this crisis.  BE HEARD is the largest gathering to focus on the disproportionate impact of HIV among gay men.  The event will precede the launch of AIDS 2010, the XVIII International AIDS Conference (IAC).
 
The day will feature work by activists from around the world, as well as plenary speeches from UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, Global Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine, and AIDS-Free World Co-Director Stephen Lewis, among others. The program will highlight a wide array of the most pressing health and human rights issues facing sexual minorities today, including the criminalization of homosexuality, new biomedical approaches to HIV prevention, and the spread of HIV among men who have sex with men in low- and middle-income countries.

For more information, go to www.msmgf.org.