International AIDS Society

The International AIDS Society (IAS) is an international society for scientists, health care and public health workers, and others engaged in HIV/AIDS prevention, control and care. The IAS is politically and financially independent and can speak freely as a voice of reason in AIDS controversies.

The IAS has approximately 10,000 individual members from over 171 countries. The current IAS president is Pedro Cahn from Argentina. Past presidents have included Helene Gayle, Stephano Vella, Joep Lange and Peter Piot.

History
The IAS is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1988, with a mandate to organize the International AIDS Conference. Initially the IAS headquarters was based in Stockholm, Sweden. Lars-Olof Kallings was the Secretary General from 1988 until 2003.

In 2004, the IAS restructured its organization, expanded the number of professional staff and moved the headquarters to Geneva, Switzerland. The move was intended to strengthen organizational links with other health NGOs and United Nations multilateral agencies.

The International AIDS Conference
The IAS is the custodian of the International AIDS Conference, the paramount gathering of all disciplines in HIV/AIDS. These prestigious conferences were annual between 1985 and 1994, but are now held every two years. They provide a unique forum for the interaction of science, community and leadership with the goal of bringing knowledge together for changes in the world's response to HIV/AIDS. In 2006, the XVI International AIDS Conference was held in Toronto, Canada. The XVII International AIDS Conference will be held in Mexico City, Mexico from 3-8 August 2008.

The IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention
The IAS also organizes the IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention. This conference occurs biennially and focuses on the biomedical aspects of HIV/AIDS. It aims to bring together participants from around the world by providing an environment for researchers and clinicians to address current issues in HIV research, prevention and treatment. The IAS 2003 Conference in Paris, France attracted over 6000 delegates from 169 countries. IAS 2005 was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. IAS 2007 will be held in Sydney, Australia and IAS 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Publications
The society publishes the eJournal of the International AIDS Society (eJIAS), a peer-reviewed, online journal which is indexed by MEDLINE. Its official journal is AIDS.

Other activities
The IAS works with other regional HIV/AIDS societies and networks to strengthen the capacity of HIV professionals to respond to the epidemic at the regional level. The society runs the Industry Liaison Forum whose mission is to remove barriers to research investment by the pharmaceutical industry in resource-limited settings. The IAS also provides professional development and training opportunities for HIV professionals at both international and regional AIDS conferences through its education programme.