(11 May 2006, 12:00, the House of Journalists Marble Hall)

15-17 May, 2006: The 1st Eastern European and Central Asian AIDS conference (EECAAC) will take place in Moscow, Russian Federation to provide an important forum for dialogue and interaction among political and community leaders, scientists and researchers, people living with HIV and representatives of civil society from across the region.

The aim of the conference is to strengthen and consolidate a large-scale response to AIDS in the region through enhanced high-level political commitment and leadership, technical capacity building as well as partnerships with civil society and people living with HIV. Conference delegates will include high-level officials representing relevant ministries of participating countries, scientists from the region, representatives of UNAIDS and its Cosponsoring agencies, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and other multi-national organizations active in the region, as well as individuals and NGOs actively working in the areas of prevention, treatment and care. 1500 regional and international participants from 46 countries will attend the conference.

The Conference might become a turning point in the fight against AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia where during the last decade, the countries of the region have experienced one of the world’s fastest growing HIV epidemics. By the end of 2004, more than 1.4 million people were already living with HIV in the region.

Speakers:

• Dr. G. G. Onishchenko, Head of the Federal Service of the Russian Federation for Surveillance in Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare
• Bertil Lindblad, UNAIDS Representative in the Russian Federation
• Alena Peryshkina, Director of ''AIDS infoshare''

Venue: Central House of Journalists, Moscow, Nikitski Brd, 8A

For more information, please contact Maria Ivannikova: maria@infoshare.ru