BE HEARD! - Internationale Tagung über HIV/AIDS und Homosexualität in Wien: Norwegens Kronprinzessin Mette-Marit als Eröffnungsrednerin

Wien (OTS) - In Zusammenhang mit der Welt-AIDS-Konferenz wird am
17. Juli 2010 in Wien auch eine Tagung zum Thema HIV/AIDS und
Menschenrechte von Schwulen und (anderen) Männern, die Sex mit
Männern (MSM) haben, stattfinden. Organisiert wird diese eintägige
Vorkonferenz vom Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF), das seinen Sitz
in Oakland, Kalifornien, hat. Als eine der EröffnungsrednerInnen wird
die norwegische Kronprinzessin Mette-Marit erwartet. Im folgenden die
Presseaussendung des MSMGF in englischer Sprache:

World's Largest Conference on Health and Human Rights of Men Who
Have Sex with Men to Address Worsening Global AIDS Crisis among Gay
Men

More than 100 of the world's top experts on human rights and HIV
among sexual minorities will lead presentations and workshops in
Vienna on July 17 at BE HEARD, an all-day conference event to address
soaring global rates of HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM).
BE HEARD is the largest gathering to focus on the disproportionate
impact of HIV among gay men. The event will precede the launch of
AIDS 2010, the XVIII International AIDS Conference (IAC).

Hosted by the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF), BE HEARD will
focus on challenges and solutions to achieving universal access to
HIV-related prevention, care, treatment, and support services for
sexual minority communities worldwide. The event comes at a time
when MSM in low- and middle-income countries are 19 times more likely
to be infected with HIV than the general population, yet only one in
five has access to the HIV prevention, care and treatment services
they need.

"MSM have been at disproportionately high risk of HIV infection
since the epidemic started," said George Ayala, Executive Officer of
the MSMGF. "Yet our issues remain severely underrepresented at the
international level. As prevalence rates among MSM are surpassing 30
percent in countries rich and poor alike, there is no time to waste.
BE HEARD is one of very few dedicated venues to focus on this
staggering crisis."

The day will feature work by activists from around the world, as
well as plenary speeches from UNAIDS Executive Director Michel
Sidibé, Global Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine, and
AIDS-Free World Co-Director Stephen Lewis, among others. The program
will highlight a wide array of the most pressing health and human
rights issues facing sexual minorities today, including the
criminalization of homosexuality, new biomedical approaches to HIV
prevention, and the spread of HIV among men who have sex with men in
low- and middle-income countries. BE HEARD is the largest event of
its kind, with over 600 attendees from more than 100 countries.

The event will run from 8:30AM to 6:00PM on Saturday, July 17, at
the Vienna University of Economics and Business. A 7:30PM reception
will follow at Heuriger Fuhrgassl-Huber, hosted by the Office of the
Mayor of Vienna. MSMGF will also hold a 1:30PM press conference on
July 20 at IAC Press Conference Room 1 that will address the current
state of health and human rights of sexual minorities worldwide,
including a discussion of selected findings from BE HEARD.

About the MSMGF

The Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) is an expanding network of
AIDS organizations, MSM networks, and advocates committed to ensuring
robust coverage of and equitable access to effective HIV prevention,
care, treatment, and support services tailored to the needs of gay
men and other MSM. Guided by a Steering Committee of 20 members from
17 countries situated mainly in the Global South, and with
administrative and fiscal support from AIDS Project Los Angeles
(APLA), the MSMGF works to promote MSM health and human rights
worldwide through advocacy, information exchange, knowledge
production, networking, and capacity building.

Infos zur Tagung unter: http://www.msmgf.org/beheard/

Rückfragehinweis:

Rückfragehinweis (in den USA):
   MSMGF - http://www.msmgf.org/
   Jack Beck, Telefon: (001) 510.271.1956 (o); (001) 510.332.0786 (m)
   [email protected]   
    
   Gabriel McGowan, Telefon: (001) 213.201.1521 (o); 
   (011) 818.450.6283 (m)
   [email protected]

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