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2010 Vienna Conference on Aids: AHP delegate reports
“No Return, fund Aids!”
It was chanted so loudly that the speakers at the opening ceremony could notbegin their welcome speeches. Soon they joined in. At this the call changed ‘legalise sex work”… and so onceagain, Brigitte Schmied, (local Aids co-chair Austria) and Julio Montaner, (President International Aids Society Canada) chanted with them again.
This was a rather shocking introduction for me, a newcomer to theconference but apparently not to the Aids Conference veterans. The conferences have maintained a stronghuman rights activism taking the form of dances, dramas, marches, whistles and drums, toi-toing (vuvuzela’s in tow) and even the occasional stand trashing (Canada, Pepfar). Most human rights advocacy emphasised the key themes of the conference, some of these captured in their Vienna declaration:
- decriminalise drug users and scale up drug dependent treatment options
- scale up funding for HIV/Aids interventions
- meaningfully involve members of affected communities in developing, monitoring and implementing services and policies that affect their lives
Included in these overarching themes was a call to increase funding for HIV/Aids – especially G8 commitments toreimburse the global fund, the upscaling towards universal access in HIV/Aids treatment, further research intophase 2 trials for new ARVs and a call to attend to the needs of minority groups – MSM, sex workers, illicitdrug users and with this, a celebration of diversity.
Located at the “Wien (Vienna) Congress Centre”, akin to a small to medium sized airport, the conference wasenormous and 25 000 participants were expected. On arrival each day we were given a daily bulletin of plenary sessions, the theme for the day and programme highlights. Open to almost any form of expression relevant to HIV/Aids, the Global Village (an exhibition hall) was the hub of activism, and featured craft sales from NGOs, displays, presentations, meetings, cafes and daily themed marches and dramas. Research meetings were held on the opposite side of the centre, comprising about 20 lecture halls in total, occupied from early till late each day.
There were typically five speakers per hour session, all representingdifferent forms of research or reports of developments in the field. Early morning plenaries featured well knownadvocates such as Bill Clinton, Vuyiseka Dubula, Aaron Motsoaledi, Yves Souteyrand and Paula Akugizibwe.
To access the halls one had to pass through the long corridor of the ‘condomise zone’, with free samples handed out liberally, and displays and billboards designed possibly to shock, but definitely to capture attention!
Participants were welcome to add their own artistic touch to the displays too.Vienna welcomed and celebrated the conference, hosting numerous events city-wide. A glitzy celebrity ‘lifeball’ was hosted on the Saturday night, a human rights march across the city a few days later culminating in alive performance by Annie Lennox. Parliament and state buildings were draped with the symbolic red ribbon,and a few buildings lit with flashing writing of ‘Aids 2010”.
