2015 7th SA AIDS Conference: Reflection, Refocus and Renewal

Partners in Sexual made valuable contributions at the 7th SA AIDS Conference at the International Convention Centre in Durban after receiving funding from the International Planned Parenthood Federation Africa Region (IPPFAR) to attend the event from 9-12 June 2015.

Apart from attending sessions the PSH delegation were also speakers at a Youth session and manned our own PSH-IPPFAR Exhibition stall.

The South African AIDS Conference, held every 2 years, has become an established barometer of the advances made in confronting and controlling HIV infections, in South Africa and in the regional states. As Africa has experienced the epidemic in a particularly vivid way, the continent accounts for the majority of new HIV infections, with sub-Saharan Africa having the global burden of this disease.

The importance of the lessons and events discussed at the conference can be applied throughout the world. There is no doubt that the immediacy of learning from the centre of the worldwide pandemic at the ICC in Durban instils a breadth of knowledge and a sustained image of the effects of one of the worst epidemics to have affected humanity.

From the reports of previous conferences or through attending the conferences, delegates were exposed to new data and information, and new narratives on HIV/AIDS as well as reflection and critique. The critical developments in epidemiology, social history, prevention interventions, and treatments available were presented and debated along with ideas about what might and might not work in prevention and treatments.

Delegates also gained insight into some of the advances made in the key elements of this disease reported throughout the world.

The 7th SA AIDS Conference provided delegates with: