XII International AIDS Conference, 1998
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The XII International AIDS Conference was held in
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
from 28 June - 3 July 1998. The theme of the conference was "Bridging the Gap."


Topics covered

The
Journal of the American Medical Association ''JAMA'' (''The Journal of the American Medical Association'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of ...
(JAMA) devoted the July issue of their magazine to HIV topics to support the conference, and chose especially to focus on two studies which would be presented at the conference. One focus was Roy Gulick's study on combination therapy for reducing viral load in HIV positive persons, in which
AZT Zidovudine (ZDV), also known as azidothymidine (AZT), was the first antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use in combination with other antiretrovirals. It may be used to prevent vertica ...
, 3TC and
indinavir Indinavir (IDV; trade name Crixivan, made by Merck & Co., Merck) is a Protease inhibitor (pharmacology), protease inhibitor used as a component of management of HIV/AIDS, highly active antiretroviral therapy to treat HIV/AIDS. It is soluble whit ...
were shown to cause study participants to lower their viral load to undetectable levels. The other was Michael Giordano's study which showed that HIV positive mothers could reduce the risk of transmission of HIV to their child by elective
cesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because vaginal delivery would ...
, taking AZT before delivery of the child, and taking AZT intravenously during the delivery.


Price of drugs

The
Gay Men's Health Crisis The GMHC (formerly Gay Men's Health Crisis) is a New York City–based non-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based AIDS service organization whose mission statement is to "end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected." Foun ...
stated that drug marketing for
Efavirenz Efavirenz (EFV), sold under the brand names Sustiva among others, is an antiretroviral medication used to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use with other antiretrovirals. It may be used for prevention after a needlesti ...
was part of this conference and that over 100 organizations worldwide had come together to issue a "Fair Price Consensus Statement" to guide policymakers on regulating the pricing of drugs. The issue was that Efavirenz was slated to go to market costing an average of $5000 per year and its efficacy was not proven over existing treatments, and GMHC and others were calling for expert oversight, pricing at rates which average people could afford, and greater community involvement in HIV/AIDS issues in general.


Response

Lancet editor Richard Horton stated his belief that the conference failed to facilitate discussion between the
developed world A developed country, or advanced country, is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy, and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations. Most commonly, the criteria for eval ...
and the
developing world A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreeme ...
, and thus failed to keep to its advertised theme of "bridging the gap."


Further reading

Roy M. Gulick, MD, MPH; John W. Mellors, MD; Diane Havlir et al.
Simultaneous vs Sequential Initiation of Therapy With Indinavir, Zidovudine, and Lamivudine for HIV-1 Infection
JAMA ''JAMA'' (''The Journal of the American Medical Association'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of b ...
, July 1, 1998—Vol 280, No. 1.


References


External links

*
Event summary
published by ''The Body'' {{DEFAULTSORT:International AIDS Conference, 1998 International AIDS Conferences International conferences in Switzerland 1998 in Switzerland 1998 conferences History of Geneva 20th century in Geneva June 1998 in Europe July 1998 in Europe