Addis Ababa, April 1, 2011 (Addis Ababa, ENA) - Meeting of the Third International Steering Committee for the preparation of the 16th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) completed here on Friday.
The 16th ICASA Conference will be held from 4-8 December 2011 under the theme: “Own, Scale-Up and Sustain” here in Addis Ababa, which is capital of Africa.
The International Steering Committee discussed on the over-all activities made by the Secretariat of ICASA over the past several months , Director of ICASA 2011 Secretariat, Tsige Teferi, told ENA in an exclusive interview on Friday.
During its two-day meeting, the committee looked into scientific and research, leadership management and community mobilization in detail, she said, adding, it also discussed on and reviewed ICASA 2011 preparation progress and Conference programs.
Brainstorming on plenary topics and speakers and obtaining feedbacks and suggestions on the overall strategy of ICASA 2011 conference operations are some of the objectives of the meeting, the director said.
In a speech delivered through a representative, Health Minister Dr. Tedros Adhanom said the committe made relevant activities in the past two days to thoroughly review the ICASA 2011 preparation progress of each conference program and the overall implementation status of conference.
The Minister said ICASA 2011 is historically significant in that it will take place 30 years after the detection of AIDS; 10 years after the United Nations General Assembly Special Session Political Declaration on AIDS and five years after the Global Declaration towards Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
ICASA 2011 will provide Africa and the World a unique opportunity to review the progress made collectively over the years towards universal access and attaining Millennium Development Goals as well as the challenges facing the fight against the epidemic, the minister said.
Addis Ababa has a good experience of hosting high-large meetings, but none of the meetings previously held in Addis have exceeded 4,000 participants.
The representative said it is a first experience for Ethiopia to host a conference which is expected to bring together over 10,000 delegates from around the world including scientists, health workers, policy makers, people living with HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections, among others, are expected to attend the conference.
In full realization of the challenges of hosting a conference of such magnitude, the Government of Ethiopia, along with its partners, is making everything possible to make the Conference a success.
The conference will create an excellent opportunity to take stock of the achievements and challenges in AIDS responses and to strengthen partnership among governments, civil societies, and the private sector and development partners.
ICASA 2011 also will provide participants a good possibility to see for themselves Ethiopia’s development efforts and visit the country’s historical places and unique scenery, Dr. Tedros added.
ICASA is one of the major international AIDS conferences taking place in Africa. Its current biennial hosting alternates between the Anglophone and Francophone African countries.
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