Continuing to combat HIV/AIDS while advancing knowledge is the goal of the seventh IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention 2013 (IAS 2013), which is scheduled in Kuala Lumpur from June 30 through July 3.
Organized by the International AIDS Society (IAS) in partnership with the Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS and the University of Malaya, the conference is supported by the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB).
The IAS Conference is the world’s largest open scientific conference on HIV and AIDS, which provides an ideal platform for the examinations of the latest development in HIV-related research. The conference, which will be attended by leading scientists, clinicians, public health experts and community leaders from around the world, is expected to bring more than 4,000 delegates into Malaysia. It’s the first time the IAS Conference will be held in Asia.
A recent marathon meeting by the IAS 2013 organizers in Kuala Lumpur has also consolidated the program for the conference, putting a step forward to the materialized date. The meeting also was attended by Professor Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, international chair of IAS 2013, IAS president and Nobel Laureate for her discovery of the HIV virus. She will be one of the key speakers at the conference.
“We are extremely grateful to the MyCEB for their excellent support in bringing the IAS conference to Malaysia and the region, where HIV science and the expertise to translate the knowledge into effective treatment and prevention interventions are most needed,” said Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman, local co-chair, IAS 2013. “The IAS 2013 takes place at a pivotal moment in the global HIV response. Recent scientific breakthroughs have provided us with the evidence to show that ending AIDS is in fact possible. As the first Asian host of an IAS conference, we are most certainly honored to be associated with such a significant milestone in the course of the epidemic.”
IAS 2013 will be one of the key business events and is part of the bureau’s efforts to proactively support Tourism Malaysia’s “Visit Malaysia Year 2014” campaign as the country aims to welcome a targeted 28 million tourists into Malaysia.
“MyCEB is honored to be a part of the supporting organizations of the IAS 2013. Not only will it provide Malaysian stakeholders the opportunity to discuss the epidemic on a global platform and raise the challenges specific to Malaysia itself, the conference also represents another milestone for Malaysia as the preferred destination for global health and medical conventions,” said Ho Yoke Ping, general manager, MyCEB. “Last year, Malaysia hosted the 43rd Union World Conference on Lung Health. And this year, Malaysia hosted the ninth International Symposium on Antimicrobial Agents and Resistance as well as the Women Deliver third Global Conference.”
Health care has been identified in Malaysia’s progressive Economic Transformation Programme as a “national key-results area,” and the MyCEB is pursuing more medical meetings to be hosted in Malaysia. The current record shows medical meetings top the list of business events in Malaysia, with 15 percent of International Congress & Conventions Associations’ events in the country being medical sciences events. Other medical events supported by the MyCEB last year include the 14th Congress of the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis 2012 and 14th Asia-Pacific Congress of Pediatrics and the Fourth Asia-Pacific Congress of Pediatrics Nursing.
The MyCEB was established in 2009 by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia, to further strengthen Malaysia’s business tourism brand and position for the international business events market. A non-profit organization, the MyCEB serves as a central hub to assist meeting and event planners to bid for and stage international business events in Malaysia and act as a conduit for national product development.
