Press Releases: Georgia
September 6, 2002
National HIV/AIDS Conference takes place in Atlanta, October 11-12
ATLANTA, Ga. – A number of international HIV experts will present the latest research and treatments for HIV patients at a Kaiser Permanente-sponsored national HIV/AIDS Conference on Friday, Oct. 11, and Saturday, Oct. 12, at the Swissotel in Buckhead.
In addition, the results from an HIV study conducted by Kaiser Permanente and Group Health Cooperative of Washington state will be presented. The study found that 40 percent of patients diagnosed with HIV have already progressed to AIDS before HIV was detected. Study investigators point to the need for more effective risk assessment and more routine testing in the absence of symptoms or documented risks. Key conference highlights are:
- Recent advances in HIV/AIDS therapies and research, including the T-20 class drug
Presenter: Joseph Eron, MD, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- Discussion about United States' response to the global AIDS epidemic and a call to activism
Presenters:
Louis W. Sullivan, former Secretary of Health and Human Services, head of the National AIDS Task Force and President Emeritus of the Morehouse School of Medicine
Eugene McCray, MD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Director of Global AIDS Program
- The impact of HIV/AIDS on Uganda, one of the poorest countries in the world
Presenter: Enid K. Eck, RN, MPH, U.S. Ambassador for HIV and Kaiser Permanente Senior Consultant, HIV and Infectious Disease
- Role of Resistance Testing
Presenter: Jeffrey Lennox, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) at Emory University School of Medicine and Medical Director of Grady Memorial Hospital's Infectious Disease Program
- Long Term Complications of Antiretrovirals
Presenter: Paul Sax, MD, Director of the HIV Program at Brigham University in Boston and Harvard Medical School professor
In conjunction with the conference, a fundraiser will take place on Friday, Oct. 11, from 6 - 8 p.m. at the Swissotel for AID Atlanta, a local organization that serves people living with HIV and AIDS.
To register, call Lisa Crouse at (770) 777-1115 by Tuesday, October 1. Visit the Web site www.kaiserpermanente.org/kphiv/ for more information.
Kaiser Permanente is the state of Georgia's largest nonprofit health plan, serving the health care needs of Atlanta metro area residents for 22 years. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia, Inc. currently provides comprehensive health care services to approximately 275,000 members through 15 medical facilities in a 28-county service, and a network of affiliated hospitals and physicians. The Health Plan provided more than $5 million in community benefit programs and services.
