Final Program [International Conference on AIDS (14th: 2002: Barcelona, Spain)]

Welcome to the XIV International AIDS Conference

Stefano Vella
President
The International
AIDS Society

Time for action
As custodian of the International AIDS Conferences, the International AIDS Society is
pleased to welcome you to Barcelona. It will be a great challenge to match the success of
Durban in 2000. In Barcelona, we face the difficult task of forcefully pushing for the action
that is still so desperately needed to curb the further spread of HIV. We must also find ways
to speed the resources promised by the international community to expand access to
treatment in the South and to hold all governments accountable to the UNGASS
declaration. No one should underestimate the political force of the Conference if we all pull
together.
The Global AIDS Fund holds great promise, but needs increased support from governments
and businesses. The vital role of civil society in promoting HIV prevention, care and
equitable access to treatment is more evident than ever. One of our greatest strengths for
the future lies in strong local grass-roots movements and NGO networks, many of whom are
represented here this week.
We are committed to highlighting the plight of the South and calling for increased global
solidarity. The Barcelona Conference comes at a pivotal time when the world needs to
mobilize in earnest all its resources for a concerted assault on HIV. We count on delegates
to broadcast the message that H IV is preventable and treatable, and that now is the time to
put words into action.

Lars O. Kallings
Secretary-General
The International
AIDS Society

i

naun Mellors
Chair: Interventions,
Program Implementation,
Advocacy and Policy
Committee

Welcome to AIDS 200oo2
How many silences have you broken since the Durban conference? How many more still
need to be broken?
The Barcelona Framework has indeed been a challenge to implement and translate into
reality, but the Conference has managed to create a sufficient integration of "science" and
"community" throughout the Conference program. Our challenge as science and community
however, is ensuring that the integration is turned into reality on the country level, and
translating the benefits that can come from this collaborative relationship into meaningful
action.
The Conference program is full and varied, and the opportunity has been created for you to
learn, share, participate and develop understanding. We need to ensure that these
conferences are not seen in isolation; but that we use them to account for our responses
and actions, and that we ensure that our actions are informed by relevant knowledge and
supported by appropriate and sustainable commitment.
We need to ensure that the knowledge developed by the various communities and different
scientific fields translates into meaningful commitment and appropriate action that makes a
difference in the lives of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. These conferences
are a small but important part of the way in which we respond to the epidemic, and you are
an important part of that response. It is however, equally important that you take the
knowledge that you have gained at this Conference back home with you, share the
information with communities in order to strengthen our collective action which will assist
us to define the way in which we all try to live with this virus every day.

I wish you an energized and informative conference.