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IAS 2025, the 13th IAS Conference on HIV Science

↪ Click here to view our IAS roadmap

The 13th annual conference of the International AIDS Society (IAS) will be from July 13 – 17 in Kigali, Rwanda. IAS 2025 comes at a defining moment. Scientific advances in prevention, treatment and potential avenues for a cure, are within reach, but global funding cuts are placing these innovations and their scientific discovery at risk. All this is jeopardizing the gains that communities, advocates, and researchers have fought for decades to achieve.

See AVAC’s resources tracking the impacts and consequences of actions to dismantle foreign aid.

New research on the HIV prevention pipeline is expected to be shared alongside evidence on how the dismantling of foreign aid and the retreat from the US’ commitments to science and global health are impacting lives and livelihoods. Every aspect of the HIV response is under attack—from basic research and clinical development to policy, programs, and global access to life-saving treatment and prevention. 

See AVAC’s new report, which lays out what’s needed at this critical time to get HIV prevention into the hands of those that need it most and join us Monday, July 14 for a satellite session, Re-imagining prevention: Ensuring sustainable PrEP access in an evolving funding context.

More details are below in our IAS 2025 roadmap and sessions of interest guide. 

IAS 2025 Resources

Use AVAC’s Roadmap to find sessions where prevention and the larger issues of global health equity and sustainability are in the spotlight. You can download it as a sortable spreadsheet or PDF. 

Follow events in real time. AVAC will offer comments and updates on Bluesky, and our friends at NAM/AIDSMAP will be reporting throughout the conference. Join the conversation using the conference hashtag #IAS2025.

Satellites, Sessions and Panels featuring AVAC and Partners 

(All times listed are local in Kigali, Rwanda. See the time zone converter here.) 

Sunday, July 13

Monday, July 14

Tuesday, July 15

Wednesday, July 16

Thursday, July 17

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World Health Assembly-A new era of HIV prevention; Accelerating access to long-acting prevention options through sustainable prevention systems and financing

This High-Level Dialogue organized by the Global HIV Prevention Coalition and co-hosted by UNAIDS in collaboration with UNFPA, WHO and UNDP, the Federal Republic of Brazil and Kingdom of the Netherlands aims to galvanize political leadership, financing, and coordinated action to drive a transformational HIV prevention push. The meeting will serve as a platform for Ministers of Health, global health partners, pharmaceutical companies, and civil society to explore opportunities to expand access to new long-acting prevention technologies as a powerful addition to existing effective options.

Join Mitchell Warren as he chairs the discussion alongside UNAIDS leadership, representatives of UN partners and global health stakeholders.

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INTEREST 2025

The annual International Conference on HIV Treatment, Pathogenesis, and Prevention Research (INTEREST) Conference is the premier scientific conference for HIV in Africa and brings together scientists involved in HIV treatment, pathogenesis, and prevention research from around the world. The conference will showcase cutting-edge knowledge in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV and the prevention of the HIV-1 infection. Additionally, it will continue to foster building a community of African physicians and scientists to facilitate the implementation of local solutions for the management of patients living with HIV-1 infection and for the prevention of HIV transmission.

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CROI 2025 Community Breakfast Meetings

The Community Breakfast Clubs are virtual webinars coordinated by the CROI Community Liaisons, the European AIDS Treatment Group, AVAC, and their global collaborators. They feature researchers and advocates discussing some of the most consequential science being presented at CROI.

Session Recordings

Breaking New Ground: The latest advances in HIV cure
March 10, 2025

AVAC, the CROI Community Liaison Subcommittee and European AIDS Treatment Group hosted the first virtual Community Breakfast Meeting (CBMs) for the 2025 CROI meeting. Speaker details and recording below:

Moderator: Michael Louell, University of Washington-Seattle, Fred Hutch Center for AIDS research 

Speakers

  • Dr. Katie Bar, University of Pennsylvania, CROI Scientific Program Committee 
  • Dr. Marina Caskey, Rockerfeller University 
  • Dr. Steven Deeks, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) 
  • Ms. Doreen Mora Moracha, HIV Cure Advocate- Kenya, CROI Community Educator Scholar
Recording

The End of AIDS — Near and Far? (40 Years of HIV)
March 11, 2025

AVAC, the CROI Community Liaison Subcommittee and European AIDS Treatment Group hosted the second virtual Community Breakfast Clubs (CBCs) for the 2025 CROI meeting. Speaker details and recording below: 

Moderator: Grace Kumwenda, AVAC 

Speakers: 

  • Dr. Chris Beyrer, Duke Global Health Institute
  • Chilufya Kasanda, Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign – Zambia, CROI Community Educator Scholar
  • Dr. Mitch Matoga, UNC, Malawi
Recording

Still Here! Living with HIV Long-Term
March 12, 2025

AVAC, the CROI Community Liaison Subcommittee and European AIDS Treatment Group hosted the third and final virtual Community Breakfast Clubs (CBCs) for the 2025 CROI meeting. Speaker details and recording below:

Moderator: Sean Hosein, European AIDS Treatment Group – Canada

Speakers:

  • Kennedy Mupeli, Center for Youth of Hope – Botswana, CROI Community Educator Scholar
  • Dr. Peter Hunt, University of California San Francisco, CROI Scientific Program Committee
  • Dr. Laura Waters, The Mortimer Market Centre – London
Recording

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Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections 2025

The 32nd annual  Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) that took place from March 9–12 in San Francisco, CA convened researchers, advocates and others under drastically altered circumstances, as the new US Administration’s assault on global health and research devastates the HIV response. Foreign aid programs are frozen, US agencies championing science and global health are being dismantled, and US leadership around the world is receding at a critical moment.

Read our summaries:

View our Community Breakfast Clubs

The CROI Community Liaisons, AVAC and the  European AIDS Treatment Group organized a series of daily  Community Breakfast Clubs which were open to all. These live webinars featured researchers and advocates exploring some of the most consequential science and discussions from CROI.

Topics included:

  • Breaking New Ground: The latest advances in HIV cure
  • The End of AIDS — Near and Far? (40 Years of HIV)
  • Still Here! Living with HIV Long-Term
View the recordings

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African Workshop on HIV & Women 2025

The inaugural edition of the African Workshop on HIV & Women will take place in hybrid format on 27 – 28 February 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya.

The time zone that will be used for this meeting is East Africa Time (EAT). If you need to convert the times to your timezone, this website might be of interest to you: www.WorldTimeBuddy.com.

This exciting new initiative is a regional workshop paired to the annual “International Workshop on HIV & Women”. It is an outstanding opportunity for both local and international healthcare providers, researchers, government, industry, and community representatives to discuss and further increase their knowledge on the issues related to HIV and women living in Africa.

The primary purpose of this workshop is to support changes that will provide a better quality of life for women living with HIV and reduce HIV transmissions in the region.

The format of the workshop enables attendees to learn from renowned HIV experts, discuss challenges, gaps, and opportunities for further learning and research. The debates and roundtables are an especially important vehicle to discuss issues and challenge dogma.

The workshop also provides a forum for early-career investigators to present their research and to personally meet with experts they view as mentors and inspiration for their work.

The meeting organizers hope this workshop will catalyze forming a community, where attendees continue to participate yearly and form valuable relationships and partnerships that lead to collaborative projects and positive changes.

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PIBA Presents Reimagining the HIV Prevention Blueprint for Black Communities in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee

PrEP in Black America (PIBA) with regional Partners will host a Virtual Town Hall titled, Reimagining the HIV Prevention Blueprint for Black Communities in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

This is designed to offer a virtual platform for leaders in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas to share the narrative of PrEP within Black communities. The town hall will concentrate on three main objectives: 1. Motivating the Black public health workforce to spearhead the public health response. 2. Educating the broader Black community about the science and efficacy of PrEP. 3. Advocating for a federally funded national PrEP program.

Local Partners Include:

  • Community Health-PIER (MS)
  • FABRIC, Incorporated (MS)
  • Mississippi AIDS Education and Training Center (MS)
  • WeCare TN
  • Ryan White Part A Program Memphis (TN)

PIBA requests that only residents of Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas (US) attend this virtual town hall.

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HIVR4P 2024

The 5th HIV Research for Prevention (R4P) conference is being held in Lima, Peru from 6 to 10 October. Held every two years, HIVR4P is the only global conference to focused exclusively on biomedical HIV prevention, including AIDS vaccines, microbicides, PrEP, treatment as prevention and other approaches. 

See below for conference highlights, recaps and announcements. 

Conference Highlights and Recaps

Announcements

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On the Frontlines of AMR: A Systems Approach

This is a UNGA side event at Yale Club of New York City, 50 Vanderbilt Ave, New York, NY 10017

At this year’s UN General Assembly, policymakers, advocates, diplomats, and practitioners will convene a High Level Meeting (HLM) on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). As new global commitments are made by state actors, Management Sciences for Health (MSH) will convene a group of experts to illustrate the importance of supply chains and strong health systems in combating AMR.

Through a panel discussion featuring practitioners, health workers, and advocates, MSH and partners will explore the role of supply chains, laboratory capacity, health facilities and other foundational aspects of health systems in meeting the increasingly complex challenge of AMR.

Topics discussed may include (but are not limited to): the importance of supply chains and regulatory systems in addressing AMR and supplying critical medicines, the critical role of laboratories, microbiology services and diagnostic tools, the importance of adequate water and sanitation in health facilities, and the role of healthcare workers in remaining combating and monitoring AMR.

MSH hopes that this discussion will “make real” the challenges and opportunities presented by this year’s HLM and provide real-world examples of how to address the growing threat of AMR.

Speakers:

  • Opening remarks: Marian Wentworth, President and CEO, Management Sciences for Health
  • Keynote introduction: Côte d’Ivoire Minister of Health Pierre Dimba
  • Scene Setting Remarks: Dr. Mirfin Mpundu, Senior Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Biodefense Advisor, Emerging Threats Division of the Office of Infectious Diseases, Bureau for Global Health, USAID
  • Moderator: Angelo Katumba, Senior Program Manager: Partnerships & Capacity Strengthening, AVAC
  • Panelist: Francis Aboagye-Nyame, Project Director, MTaPS project, Management Sciences for Health
  • Panelist: Patrick Mubangizi, Africa Director, Fleming Fund, Mott MacDonald
  • Panelist: Dr. Caline S. Mattar, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of Global Health
  • Scholars Pathway in Internal Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine
  • Panelist: Josette Vignon, Madagascar Country Director, WaterAid
  • Closing Remarks: Dr. Jide Idris, MBBS, MD, MPH, Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention

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Restrategizing Civil Society Engagement for Pandemic and Global Governance

As we are building back from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, current and future generations face multiple grand-scale challenges, including the climate crisis, related disasters, pollution, and biodiversity loss. These challenges also heighten the threat of future pandemics from emerging or re-emerging diseases. On the 14th of August 2024, the WHO has declared the Mpox outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), which highlighted the growing concerns.

The recent amendments to the IHR (2005), agreed upon during the 77th World Health Assembly, are pivotal in enhancing global health regulations. These amendments aim to address the shortcomings revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fundamental changes include a broadened definition of pandemic emergencies, principles of solidarity and equality, and reinforced WHO authority.

We aim to draw lessons from the successful experiences of diverse CSOs in enhancing inclusivity in multilateral discussions and implementation of agreements/treaties on topics such as one health, other health issues, climate, human rights, and more. For example, the processes leading to the Paris Agreement have set important precedents for integrating diverse voices and ensuring meaningful participation in global decision-making. Indigenous groups have also been involved in the inception to implementation processes of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

This side event aims to serve as a consolidation platform for civil society to share and find strategies that redefine civil society roles in global decision-making processes that address health threats such as future pandemics, climate crises, and others.

Objectives

The side event will reassess the strategies utilized to expand the role and involvement of civil society in global governance for health, climate, and other development sectors. The event’s objectives are further detailed in the following:

  • To explore and develop concrete strategies that enhance participatory, inclusive global governance for health, climate, human rights and other global challenges, starting from the Pandemic Agreement through meaningful civil society engagement, particularly in the face of shrinking civic spaces.
  • To foster collaborations among CSOs from multiple sectors to advance health and health-related development agendas.

Moderator:

  • Samantha Rick, Multilateral Engagement and Pandemic Preparedness Advocacy Specialist, AVAC

Speakers:

  • Eloise Todd, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Pandemic Action Network
  • Lawrence O. Gostin, Faculty Director O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law
  • Neil Vora, Executive Director of Preventing Pandemics at the Source
  • Olivia Herlinda, Chief Research and Policy at CISDI