17 November 2011, ADDIS ABABA – Only 16 days to ICASA 2011. All the preparations are well underway, and at the final stage. At a press conference that brought together the ICASA organizing body with both local and international journalists, on Thursday 17 November 2011 at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa, H.E. Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Ethiopia's Minister of Health and the Patron of ICASA 2011, underscored that it is the first time for Ethiopia to host such a big number of people for a conference.

From the conference Venue, the Millennium Hall, to hotel accommodation, program development and visa processing, major activities are well underway, and are almost finalized for finer details. Delegates are still registering and, the registration process continues during the conference. "We are well prepared to welcome ICASA delegates," Dr. Tedros said.

The 16th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa includes a range of Pre-Conference Activities, over 50 Satellite Sessions, 4 Plenary Sessions, Non-Abstract Driven Session, 52 oral abstract sessions, 12 poster discussions, 872 Poster Exhibitions, 34 Skills Building Workshops, a lively Community Village and 7 Special Sessions.

The special sessions include: Leader's Panel: Keeping the promise in the AIDS response;
First Ladies' Panel: Towards an HIV free generation; Ministerial Panel-Health and Social Affairs: Making health systems work to effective HIV response; Ministerial Panel-Finance and Economy: Funding HIV response; Value for Money: Sustaining HIV Response; Corporate Social Responsibility; and HIV & Bio-medical Research in Africa.

"The conference offers a unique opportunity to recommit and express our global voice and solidarity towards the responses of HIV and AIDS, which still needs aggressive intervention in Africa. The conference will help Africa get its global voice heard and its demand for global solidarity get a positive response", emphasized H.E. Dr. Tedros Adhanom.

Held every two years, ICASA attracts over 10,000 participants from all over the world. This year's is also expected to bring in more than 10,000 delegates across the globe and give opportunity for the world's leading scientists, clinicians, public health experts and community leaders to examine the latest developments in HIV, AIDS and STIs related researches, and recent scientific breakthrough towards effective interventions to prevent and treat HIV, particularly in African countries and to scale up evidence-based response to HIV/AIDS/STIs, TB and Malaria to achieve the MDGs. The conference will be held from 4-8 December 2011, under the theme "OWN, SCALE-UP & SUSTAIN".

ICASA 2011 SECRETARIAT
Federal HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
P.O. Box 122326, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: +251 115 54 87 732788/2532, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia