Health Action AIDS

2008 Health Professional Leadership Summit on Women and HIV/AIDS

Physicians for Human Rights’ Health Action AIDS (HAA) Campaign, in partnership with the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC), held a Health Professional Leadership Summit on Women and HIV/AIDS in early February, 2008. The summit brought together 25 health professionals, including 4 medical students, from across the country in Washington, DC, for two days to discuss how national governments and the international community can develop sustainable rights-based health systems that protect and empower women. The opening keynote for the Summit was given by Stephen Lewis, the Co-Director of AIDS-Free World and former Special Envoy to the UN Secretary-General for HIV/AIDS in Africa. Dr. Allan Rosenfield, Campaign Advisor and world-renowned expert on HIV, maternal and child health, was able to contribute to the panel through a video message.

Also on day one a panel of HAA advisors led a lively discussion during which participants exchanged information about effective programmatic interventions and evidence-based responses to the growing HIV epidemic among women. Learn more about the program from participants in these video interviews.

On the second day, participants met with staff members from 33 Congressional offices to bring their knowledge and expertise directly to the policymakers. HAA/IWHC also held a very well attended Congressional briefing, during which participants educated Congressional staffers and NGO partners about rights-based strategies to halt the feminization of AIDS.