HIV conference set to take place in Maryland later this month

Despite significant strides in HIV awareness, the disease is still a public health threat, as it affects more than 55,000 new Americans each year. For this reason, the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research is preparing to host its annual event, which is designed to promote prevention and detection efforts across the U.S.

The 2010 National Summit on HIV Diagnosis, Prevention and Access to Care will be held from November 17 to 19 - just before World AIDS Day - at the National Harbor in Maryland. It will bring together as many as 300 scientists, physicians, public health officials and advocates to discuss ways of achieving routine HIV testing for everyone between the ages of 13 and 64.

The urgency of the need to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS is emphasized by statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which suggest that more than one million Americans are currently living with HIV, and some 200,000 are unaware of the infection.

Even more alarmingly, some 50 percent of HIV-infected adolescents - a group that is more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, such as unprotected sex - remain undiagnosed.

Veronica Miller, the Forum's director, summarized its goal by saying that the national summit "is designed to create the pathway for accelerated adoption of routine HIV testing and for increasing patients' access to care - two strategies that will dramatically reduce HIV transmission and better support people living with [the virus]."