Emili Ema Sedlar
August 13, 2018
This year’s AIDS Conference, which was held in Amsterdam, gathered together researchers, activists, scientists and journalists that have elaborated in detail subjects regarding the U=U campaign and fighting HIV/AIDS stigma on a global scale. The week-long program was rich in content, presentation and speakers, where many introduced the social and political aspects of HIV/AIDS research. HIV testing and its role today among young people, HIV prevention, the future opinions regarding a cure,and care management are just some of the many topics introduced. As the conference was reviewed as one of the best ones in years by many attendees, some have spoken out about what was their best presentation, what inspired them the most, thus what their wishes are for the future AIDS conference.
Stephen Hart attended the U U pre conference, which took place on July 22nd. According to Hart, “the pre-conference was about what U=U means and the impact it has on the way people view and treat HIV/AIDS now. I was blown away with the amount of people that were there to take part in learning and finding out all they could do about U=U. In my video, I get quite emotional because I had never seen or felt such a sense of community as I did on that day,” admitted Hart. He went on to reveal how he learned that in many places around the world, many researchers still do not admit the importance of U=U and the way it has shown progressive steps ahead of the present and future. Discovering more about the research, he describes how the atmosphere was buzzing. “As people got up to talk, you could feel the excitement in the room as the results from the studies were being told, but there were also waves of sadness as people spoke from countries where the virus was still raging through communities because of lack of money and funding for testing and meds,” spoke out Hart.
To Hart, one of the most memorable moments from the conference was meeting people from around the world who were equally excited to hear more about new research and understanding other stories about the social impact of HIV and AIDS throughout cultures and countries. One of Hart’s yearnings is to see U=U become much more a norm used by doctors and worldwide organizations in order to educate people about there being zero risk if adhering the medication. “I wish to see a change in the criminalization of people living with HIV because people are being thrown into prison just for being positive. Lastly, I wish to see more coverage across the world of what amazing accomplishments, stories and people come together for that one week,” explained Hart in the end.