AIDS conference deferred in Bangladesh

The 12th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific-ICAAP12 scheduled for from 20th to 22nd November in Dhaka has been deferred, if not stalled, due to security reasons, though the Bangladesh health ministry termed it “unavoidable circumstances”.

This is the first time in Asia and second time in the world; the AIDS conference is being deferred. The first time being the cancellation of the International Conference on AIDS in 1992 in Boston, USA due to the then discriminatory policy of the US Government in not allowing HIV infected foreigners for the AIDS conference.

It was then held in Amsterdam in June 1992 under the leadership of Dr Jonathan Mann, who had died in a tragic Swiss Air crash in Nova Scotia in 1998.

The ASI, however, now plans to host it in Mumbai or Hyderabad.