The AIDS 2012 Conference Coordinating Committee (CCC) have selected Turning The Tide Together as the theme for the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012), which will be held in Washington, D.C. from 22 - 27 July 2012.
Turning The Tide Together reflects a unique moment in time, emphasizing that the AIDS epidemic has reached a defining moment. By acting decisively on recent scientific advances in HIV treatment and biomedical prevention, the momentum for a cure, and the continuing evidence of the ability to scale-up key interventions in the most-needed settings, we now have the potential to change the course of HIV and AIDS.
Capturing the current sense of hope and the renewed optimism that a change of course in the HIV epidemic is possible, Turning the Tide Together also serves as an urgent call to action. It acknowledges that seizing this potential and actually turning the tide on HIV will require commitment and action on many levels: that each and every stakeholder in the AIDS response must play their role.
A broad number of issues will be required to actually change the course of the epidemic, including continued investments and collaboration in research, more operations research and more efficient delivery systems, significant programme scale-up in resource-limited settings, commitment to evidence-based interventions, and promotion of human rights. Turning The Tide Together evokes both the scale of the task in hand and the power of AIDS 2012 to mobilize governments, NGOs, policy makers, scientists, civil society organizations, journalists and people living with HIV to join forces and build the necessary momentum to turn the tide of the AIDS epidemic.