Professor Chris Beyrer, President of the International AIDS Society and International Chair of AIDS 2016;
Dr Olive Shisana, CEO of the Human Sciences Research Council and Local Co-Chair of AIDS 2016;
Dr Brian Brink, Chief Medical Officer at Anglo American;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
It is a great honour for South Africa to host the 21st International AIDS Conference in Durban in July 2016.
This will be the second time that South Africa and the city of Durban host this conference, having hosted the event in 2000.
The conference, commonly known as AIDS 2016, is organised by the International AIDS Society, the world’s leading independent association of HIV and AIDS health professionals, together with its partners from the UN family, the South African government and international civil society organisations.
The return of the International AIDS Conference to Durban is highly significant for a number of reasons.
The 2000 conference was pivotal in focusing the world’s attention on the impact of HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa, fundamentally changing the course of the epidemic on the continent.
