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Daily Digest: Wednesday, 29 July | AIDS 2026
We are more than halfway through AIDS 2026! The Daily Digest is your trusted resource throughout the conference. The first of two AIDS 2026 special sessions takes place at lunchtime today. These sessions address timely, urgent issues in HIV science and policy. Quick links Online programme Virtual platform Conference website Coming up today Convert to your time zone through the AIDS 2026 programme. All times in the programme are in Brasilia Time (BRT) 08:30Kick off your day with the plenary, “The future of HIV prevention”, and find out more about the road ahead for vaccine science, the state of art for PrEP, and access to gender-affirming care. The session concludes with the award ceremony of the CIPHER Research Grant Programme. 10:00Workshops translate HIV infectious disease modelling for non-specialists, and frame community-based chemsex psychosis awareness and prevention as a form of care and adherence support. 10:30 The Co-Chairs’ Choice session features the real-world impact of PEPFAR funding disruptions across 46 countries. It includes results of a once-weekly oral HIV treatment and early results on whether a twice-yearly antibody injection can prevent HIV acquisition in African women. The session concludes with the presentation of the IAS President’s Award. The oral abstract session, “Cure and control”, introduces us to the Kansas City patient, in HIV remission after a CCR5Δ32 stem-cell transplant, as well as early promise for N-803, a next-generation immune stimulant, in reducing the intact HIV reservoir. Sessions also look at closing gaps in the prevention of perinatal transmission and overcoming intellectual property barriers to accessing HIV tools. Symposia examine leadership to protect the gains and advance progress in a new era while balancing global solidarity and national sovereignty, and the implications of growing sexual and gender identity fluidity for the HIV response. 12:00 Satellite symposia take place in two time slots: 12:00 and 18:00. At 12:00, join MSD for a medical education symposium on ARV resistance, cardiometabolic health and HIV care for older adults. Workshops explore the responsible use of AI and digital tools in HIV programmes, and legal gender recognition as a structural HIV intervention for trans communities. The regional networking event for IAS Members from Asia and the Pacific Islands takes place at the IAS booth (#901) in the exhibition area. 13:30 New and old challenges threaten gains in HIV treatment and prevention, while new technologies offer the chance to transform care. Today’s special session, “After the emergency: Rebuilding sustainable access to HIV treatment and prevention”, asks what it will take to rebuild equitable access and what governments, donors, civil society and others must do to get there. 14:30 Want to learn how to turn your research into real-world impact by communicating science clearly and accurately for wide audiences? Attend this workshop led by expert researchers and science communicators. Or find out about using data visualization to improve access to public health data for HIV service planning and policy making. 15:00 Symposia bring together community leadership and the science of protection. A session asking us to move beyond resilience and actively resist stigma and discrimination for key populations in healthcare settings concludes with the naming of the IAS Me and my Healthcare Provider champions. In an anti-vax world, people living with HIV face compounded barriers to life-saving immunizations; examine how stigma, misinformation and inequality are driving gaps in vaccine coverage, and what it will take to close them. The Indigenous experience and its intersections with HIV takes centre stage. Young activists and service providers describe what has to change to build an HIV response fit for a new era. The oral abstract session, “ARTistic strategies 2: The long game”, includes a presentation of the first complete safety and efficacy data on twice-yearly HIV treatment for up to 104 weeks. Sessions also focus on the power of communities in delivering HIV services in conflict, humanitarian and development settings, overcoming legal and policy barriers to HIV services, and health interventions in chemsex contexts. 16:30 Find out about PrEP in motion – who stays and who leaves PrEP use – in an oral abstract session. Also under the spotlight are advanced HIV disease and intersecting stigma. A panel weighs in on the promise and potential pitfalls of bNAbs for HIV cure in a symposium. Three symposia tackle funding and political pressures on the HIV response: rethinking systems and synergies to build and sustain service delivery networks, strengthen efficiency and preserve access to care; safeguarding spaces and services for key populations amid geopolitical challenges and shrinking budgets; and rewiring the HIV response in an era when data alone is not enough to drive action. The Global Village Explore the Global Village through the Scavenger Hunt. Among many other exciting activities: “Engaging Islamic faith leaders to reduce HIV stigma and improve SRHR access for trans and key populations”, exploring how Islamic ethics of compassion, justice and protection of life can support human rights-based HIV responses “LHiV 2 ZERO: Our truth. Our power”, a live performance from the San Francisco LGBT Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation “Beyond prompts” on community mapping of machine learning and AI shaping the HIV response The Prison Health Matters networking zone, a space to talk about healthcare and HIV management in prisons The poster exhibition You can meet presenting authors next to their posters from 12:15 to 13:15. Featured posters today include: The experience of women undergoing tissue sampling Preliminary results from the RIO trial on HIV viral control after a bNAb “wash-out” and the relationship to HIV viraemia at dosing Findings on a novel DNA delivery method using lipid nanoparticlesLessons from the Uganda National Trans Forum on protecting choice and introducing lenacapavir for trans and gender-diverse communities amid criminalization Data on the use of AI to predict where vertical HIV transmission is taking place Disruptions to HIV prevention services for trans adults after the US federal executive orders Just launched! JIAS supplement, “Towards elimination of sexually transmitted infections: Research developments and vaccine uptake”. It brings together global perspectives on advancing STI vaccine development and implementation, highlighting both scientific progress and the structural, behavioural and stigma-related barriers that shape vaccine uptake. Read it for free The exhibition The exhibition is open from 09:30 to 17:30. Explore cutting-edge products and services and chat with people from key organizations in the HIV response. Rapporteur summaries These are your go-to resources for highlights of AIDS 2026. Thanks to the AIDS 2026 team of expert rapporteurs, you can find daily recaps by each scientific track here. Meet our change makers Silvia Okoth, an Advocacy and Policy Manager for the Bar Hostess Empowerment & Support Programme in Kenya, designs and implements community-led sexual and reproductive health programmes. With the support of the IAS Youth Hub Seed Grant Programme, Silvia manages a project that provides weekly medical outreach measures to young women and girls living on dumpsites. She takes part in the young leaders symposium at 15:00 today. Official media partners Join the conversation The official theme of AIDS 2026 is Rethink. Rebuild. Rise. Share your story or message of support using #RethinkRebuildRise! Follow us on social media, explore the AIDS 2026 social toolkit for ready-to-use posts and graphics, and join the conference conversation. #AIDS2026 @AIDS_conference @International AIDS Conference @aids_conference @International AIDS Society @iasociety Thanks to our major industry sponsors
