MEDIA ADVISORY

W HO AT THE 14TH CONFERENCE ON RETROVIRUSES AND OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTIONS LOS ANGELES, 25-28 FEBRUARY 2007

W HAT: Top officials from the World Health Organization are scheduled to participate in a number of events at the 14th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

WHO is the directing and coordinating authority on international health work and takes the lead in the United Nations system in the global health sector response to the AIDS epidemic.

Saturday, February 24

8:30-12:30 W HO/HIVResNet Global Strategy Meeting on HIV Drug Resistance W estin Bonaventure Hotel, 404 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles

Update on the Global HIV Drug Resistance Strategy Chair: Charlie Gilks, Coordinator, Antiretroviral Treatment and HIV Care, WHO Donald Sutherland, Medical Officer, Antiretroviral Treatment and HIV Care, WHO Diane Bennett, Medical Officer, Antiretroviral Treatment and HIV Care, WHO Michael Jordan, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Disease, Tufts University School of Medicine

Field Experience: W HO HIV Drug Resistance Surveillance and Monitoring Strategy Chair: Diane Bennett, Medical Officer, Antiretroviral Treatment and HIV Care, WHO Geoffrey Somi, Director, Epidemiology Unit, National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), Tanzania Massimo Ghidinelli, Regional Adviser for HIV/AIDS, Regional Office for the Western Pacific, WHO Gottfried Hirnschall, Regional Coordinator for HIV Drug Resistance, Regional Office for the Americas, WHO

1 Prapan Phanupak, Director, Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre Co-Director, HIV-NAT Marina Kronilova, National Professional Officer, WHO, Moscow

HIV Drug Resistance Laboratory Strategy Silvia Bertagnolio, Medical Officer, Antiretroviral Treatment and HIV Care, WHO

Recent HIV Drug Resistance Grants & Im pact of New Funding Nick Hellmann, Interim Director, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Reproductive Health, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Speaker TBA, Spanish Government Fund

Review & Discussion of Partner HIV Drug Resistance Surveillance & Monitoring Strategies -som e exam ples Jeff Smith, AIDS FONDS/PharmAccess Foundation/Treat Asia Martine Peeters, Director of Research, Institute for Research and Development, University of Montpellier, France Deborah Birx, Director, Global AIDS Program, CDC

Next Steps: Planning for the HIVResNet Future Scott Hammer, Advisory Committee Co-chair, HIVResNet Diane Havlir, Advisory Committee Co-chair, HIVResNet

N.B. If you are interested in attending this event, please inform Jacqueline Lee Endt at leeendtj@ who.int

Sunday, February 25

4-6 p.m . Los Angeles Convention Center, W est Hall B Opening Sym posium : Urgent Issues in the Developing W orld

Conveners: > Kevin De Cock, Director, HIV/AIDS Department, WHO > Dorothy Mbori-Ngacha, CDC,

Transm ission of Extrem e Drug Resistant TB in South Africa and Im plications for Infection Control in Health Care Settings Karin Weyer, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria Discussant: Paul Nunn, Coordinator, TB/HIV and Drug Resistance, WHO

A Large Outbreak of Diarrheal Disease with High Mortality in HIV-Infected Children in Botswana œ Im plications for HIV Prevention Strategies and Child Health Tracy Creek, Global AIDS Program, MTCT Team, CDC Discussant: Peggy Henderson, Scientist, Newborn and Child Health and Development, WHO

2 The Evolution of Policy and Practice for HIV Testing in the Developing W orld Nafuna Wamai, Global AIDS Program, CDC,

Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transm ission of HIV in Resource-Poor Settings œ W hy Are W e Doing So Badly? Marc Bulterys, Director, CDC, Zambia

W HO officials attending CROI:

The following WHO officials will be participating in the conference and will be available to meet with reporters.

HIV/AIDS experts: ñ Kevin De Cock, Director, HIV/AIDS Department ñ Charlie Gilks, Coordinator, Antiretroviral Treatment and HIV Care ñ Yves Souteyrand, Acting Coordinator, Strategic Information ñ George Schmid, Medical Officer, Strategic Information ñ Donald Sutherland, Medical Officer, Antiretroviral Treatment and HIV Care ñ Silvia Bertagnolio, Medical Officer, Antiretroviral Treatment and HIV Care ñ Diane Bennett, Medical Officer, Antiretroviral Treatment and HIV Care ñ Siobhan Crowley, Medical Officer, Antiretroviral Treatment and HIV Care ñ Marco Vitoria, Medical Officer, Antiretroviral Treatment and HIV Care ñ Peggy Henderson, Scientist, Newborn and Child Health and Development, WHO

TB experts: ñ Paul Nunn, Coordinator, TB/HIV and Drug Resistance ñ Fabio Scano, Medical Officer, TB/HIV and Drug Resistance ñ Haileyesus Getahun, Medical Officer, TB/HIV and Drug Resistance

W HO press contacts in Los Angeles:

- Anne Winter : tel: +41 79 440 6011, email: wintera@ who.int

W HO press contacts in Geneva:

- Iqbal Nandra, WHO, tel: +41 22 791 5589, mobile: +41 79 509 0622, email: nandrai@ who.int - Tunga Namjilsuren, WHO, tel: +41 22 791 1073, email: namjilsurent@ who.int

All WHO press releases, fact sheets, features and other information on HIV/AIDS can be found on http://www.who.int/hiv/

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