The 2020 United States Conference on AIDS has over 3,300 registrations. Please be sure to register for free before we reach 4,000.
Dr. Anthony Fauci* will keynote the Federal Plenary on Tuesday, Oct 19th. The session will ask our federal leaders for the next steps in our efforts to end the HIV epidemic. COVID-19 has changed everything, including the way we provide HIV prevention and care.The good doctor does not need to hear from me that a movement stands behind him. I am so proud of the way the HIV infrastructure is being used to fight COVID-19. The COVID-19 Prevention Trials Network is a merger that includes the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (PVTN), the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN), and the AIDS Clinical Trials Group. This clearly documents the value of our country’s investment in HIV and why Congress must increase HIV funding. Here is more information if you are thinking about volunteering to be part of a trial. As we learned on last week’s webinar from Dr. Stephaun Wallace, they need a diversity of people to volunteer for these trials, including People Living with HIV.
What We’ve Learned from Attending Other Virtual Meetings
Virtual meetings are new to most of us. Recent experiences showed NMAC that training in advance on the conference platform is vital to a good conference experience. USCHA will use multiple training tools including online manuals, webinars, and real people to provide technical support. The next two USCHA webinars will happen on:
- Aug 6th How to Set-Up Online Exhibit Booths
- Aug 19th Recording Online Workshops
Staff is putting together “advance” workshops to serve as models for presenters. These early sessions will be online to collect feedback on the learning formats and to give presenters an example of USCHA’s expectations. The goal is to create a “good learning experience” for communities working on the frontlines of the epidemic and to educate and train them on the latest HIV prevention, care, and wrap around services in a COVID-19 world where Black Trans Lives Matter.
If we can, we will also have a version of the conference platform online prior to the start of the meeting. It will be an opportunity for registered attendees to use the new technology in advance. Staff will use this time to get feedback and uncover any problems in advance of the start time.
NMAC
*I did not get permission to use this picture of Dr. Fauci, in fact I am concerned that he does not like it. I thought it was cool and wanted to celebrate him.