SAA makes presentation @ 3rd NHARCON in Accra

Source: SAA

A team from the Society for AIDS in Africa have made a presentation on the International Conference on Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa, ICASA 2013 at the 3rd National HIV and AIDS Research Conference, (NHARCON) in Accra.

The team, which was led by the President of SAA, Professor Robert Soudre , briefed the participants of NHARCON, on the preparations made so far towards ICASA 2013 which will be held in Cape, Town South Africa.

In a presentation, the Co-ordinator of the permanent Secretariat of the Society for AIDS in Africa, Mr Luc Armand Bodea said among other things that over three thousand abstracts have been received.

Opening and closing sessions of the event are almost finalized. The speakers have been identified and invitations have been sent out. Plenary session topics have been defined and the speakers and their backups have been identified and invited.

He also explained that scholarships applications are now closed. Four thousand and twenty two scholarship applications were received from 101 countries.

However the conference is still expecting donors and ICASA scholarship sponsors to respond to delegates appeal by providing substantial funding to delegate coming from low incomes countries.

ICASA meeting is the only bilingual platform to provide knowledge and sharing of best practises for professional and grass root NGO in our continent.

Most participants at the NHARCON expressed their desire to register for the event. NHARCON was organised by the Ghana AIDS Commission and its partners. The conference provided a platform for researchers and stakeholders to share information and experiences as well as discuss results of various researches and its implications for improving the quality of the National HIV and AIDS response.

The conference brought together top echelons of programme managers in the field of HIV, policy makers, the scientific community in Ghana and abroad, persons living with HIV (PLHIV) and other individuals, committed to eliminating the HIV epidemic.

They assessed the current HIV situation, evaluated recent scientific developments and lessons learnt, with a view to reaching consensus, on how to improve quality delivery and coverage of HIV services.

The theme for NHARCON ,”Utilising Strategic Information for Effective National HIV and AIDS Response” if properly observed , could result in the theme for ICASA 2013, which is “Now More Than Ever: Targeting Zero”.

The Zambian Minister for Chiefs and traditional Affairs, Professor Nkandu Luo who chaired the ICASA section at the NHARCON, spoke about South Africa’s strides to overcome HIV/AIDS.

She said South Africa looks forward to hosting the ICASA 2013 in Cape Town, South Africa, a very beautiful city with modern public transport, accessible accommodation and outstanding banking and telecommunications infrastructure.