On 22 July, the International AIDS Conference in Washington DC, USA, will open. Sweden will be represented at the conference by a team from the Government Offices, the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Sida. Anders Nordström, Sweden's Ambassador for Global Health, will head up the team.

In conjunction with the conference, Sweden will host a meeting on 23 July. The meeting will address young people's sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Young people must have better access to good sex education and the opportunity to protect themselves from HIV. This applies to all young people, regardless of sexual orientation. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will participate.

New research findings are expected to be presented at the conference, which is scheduled to end on 27 July. The participants are also expected to discuss ways of mobilising more financial resources for future efforts. On Tuesday, Sweden's Ambassador for Global Health, Anders Nordström, will participate in a discussion with five other ambassadors on the challenge of maintaining political interest and priority for the HIV/AIDS epidemic thirty years after the discovery of the virus.

Also scheduled to attend is Sweden's regional team, otherwise posted in Lusaka, Zambia. Sweden will expand its regional support in Africa. Among other things, Sweden wants to work to prevent the incidence of HIV in children whose mothers are HIV positive and supply these mothers with anti-retroviral drugs so that they survive and can care for their children. The target is 40 000 fewer infected children.

Sweden's development cooperation and support to combat HIV/AIDS totals about SEK 1 billion per year. The largest recipients and partners are the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and UNAIDS. This year, Sweden will increase its regional support in Africa, from SEK 250 million to SEK 350 million per year. Sweden has extensive initiatives in countries such as Tanzania and South Africa.

Contact
Contact in Washington DC
Anders Nordström
+46 70 698 03 21

Contact in Stockholm
André Mkandawire
+46 8 405 59 35