This special issue of AIDS Care is drawn together to give readers some synopsis of the recent AIDSImpact conference in Botswana (22–25 September 2009). It represents a cluster of papers drawn from the very wide selection of topic areas covered at the meeting. The special issue marks not only the continuing success of this high-quality conference (described by some as the boutique AIDS Social Science Conference), but also to pay homage to one of its long-standing scientific board members, Professor Martin Fishbein, who died suddenly in November 2009 while actively planning the forthcoming AIDSImpact conference in Santa Fe, 12–15 September 2011, which he was due to chair.
Professor Martin Fishbein (known to his colleagues as Marty), was an inspiration to all quality social science practitioners in health generally and HIV particularly. We would like to dedicate this issue to his memory and hope that the continued pursuit of excellence in the fight against AIDS will do his contributions justice.
In September 2009, delegates from 33 countries gathered in Botswana. As a token to the non-profit charity that organises this meeting, 28% of attendees were on assisted registration. This tradition of support and bursary assistance enabled the conference to ensure wide attendance and coverage. Generous assistance from our various supporters is acknowledged below.
The content of the conference comprised 192 oral presentations and 90 posters. This special issue is thus a small reflection of the broad content covered at the meeting. It also can, in no way, capture the rich networking, dialogue and debate that occurred during the process of the conference. Such debate ensured that all researchers and practitioners returned to their endeavours with insight, inspiration and critique.
AIDSImpact has become the major HIV/AIDS conference in the field of human and social sciences; AIDSImpact is characterised by the multidisciplinary nature of the science which is presented and discussed. The achievement of this conference is to bring social scientist together not only to make progress in their own academic field, but also to inform public health policy and strategy. Data which are discussed during the conference were enlightened by the wide diversity of social scientist, from qualitative to quantitative fields, including such perspectives as anthropology, psychology, demography, sociology, medicine, public health, nursing and economics. In addition, discussions which occurred allowed for rich interaction with biomedical disciplines by taking into account state-of-the-art medical progress.
Social science is thus couched in the current era where there are many advances, challenges and obstacles. Treatment is progressing, prevention is a challenge and the needs of various groups provide a constant reminder of the human interface of this epidemic. In terms of biomedical progress there is now availability of improved new generation antiretroviral treatment. Such advances in tolerability allows a refinement of matching of the best regimens for the individual according to subjective treatment experience. Moreover, the availability of biomedical interventions such as male circumcision or the antiretroviral-associated viral load control represent key medical innovations which are challenging social sciences to study how these innovations could be translated in real-life settings. For example, mathematical models suggest that universal HIV screening followed by antiretroviral initiation for all those infected would dramatically reduce HIV incidence. Such interventions cannot be seriously considered for wide implementation in high-, medium- or low-resource settings without considering the social, political and economical problems the populations have to face. Psychosocial advances and challenges abound. There is a growing need for evidence-based provision in terms of programmes and a series of exciting initiatives were presented at AIDSImpact. A number of emerging challenges were grappled with, such as the needs of children, the importance of family approaches to HIV, palliative care provision, new prevention initiatives and particular economic considerations in the changing global financial climate.
The selection of papers in this special issue reflects the wide range of HIV issues. Papers on HIV-positive women and adolescents draw out some of the sub-group issues globally. Mental health and quality of life are issues reflected in a number of papers looking at the challenges of treatment adherence over the long term as well as suicidal ideation, coping and interventions such as motivational behavioural skills. Community and structural issues emerge in papers looking at sexual partnerships and stigma.
Against the gloom of the spread of HIV and the social and political problems it relates to, the experience of Botswana and the power of communities to fight for individuals, gave us a strong cause for optimism.
We would like to acknowledge support from a wide range of sources, which contributed to the success of our meeting.
Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.
ANRS, France.
Abbott Pharmaceutical.
Bristol Myers Squibb.
Baylor Paediatric Hospital.
Frank Tapnack Photography.
Siempresol for handmaking our conference bags.
RTI International for session support.
IAEN for coordination of high-quality economic input.
IALS for legal support.
AIDS Care for publication support and conference scientific dinner.
Taylor and Francis.
J Rosshandler Speechly Bircham LLP.
HSRC, South Africa.
IAVI.
UCL, London, UK.
IC, London, UK.
SIDACTION
Volunteers Yoni, Ben, Ari, Frank, Botswana Group, Baylor doctors and nurses.
Lorraine Sherr, Jose Catalan, Bruno Spire, Barbara Hedge, Bridgette Prince, Olive Shisana, Frans van Den Boom, Sheila Tlou, Jean Paul Moatti