The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

The eyes of the world will soon turn to Mexico City where the 17th International AIDS Conference will take place in early August.

The conference will draw around 25,000 participants from across the globe, including many world-renowned leaders and experts in their field, according to a message received here on Monday.

AIDS 2008 will be officially opened on the evening of August 3 by Mexican President, Felipe Caldern Hinojosa, said International Aids Society (IAS), a Geneva-based charity which convenes the AIDS conference.

World personalities include former US president Bill Clinton, Mexican Secretary of Health Jos, Angel Cordova Villalobos, Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, Director- General of the World Health Organisation Margaret Chan, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS Peter Piot, Asian activist and advocate for the rights of HIV-positive women around the world Mony Pen, Prime Minister of St Kitts & Nevis Denzil Douglas, former president of Botswana Festus Gontebanye Mogae, and First Vice-President of Spain Mar-a Teresa Fern ndez de la Vega.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation, will present a keynote at a session titled "HIV/AIDS and Health System Reform: Achieving Universal Coverage" on August 4.

Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will join Peter Piot (UNAIDS), Mark Harrington (Treatment Action Group, USA), Vuyiseka Dubula (Treatment Action Campaign, South Africa) and Frika Chia Iskandar (Asia Pacific Network of People Living with AIDS, Indonesia) to look towards the HIV epidemic in 2031 and new directions in AIDS research.

The AIDS 2008 will close on August 8 (Friday) with presentations by Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and Marcelo Ebrard, the Mayor of Mexico City.

The conference will be held at Centro Banamex in Mexico City from 3 to 8 August 2008.

The conference theme of Universal Action Now emphasizes the need for continued urgency in the worldwide response to HIV/AIDS, and for action on the part of all stakeholders.

International AIDS Society (IAS), the world's leading independent association of HIV professionals, convened the AIDS 2008 in association with the government of Mexico and the government of Mexico City.