The Hindu Business Line : Pugwash meet on HIV/AIDS

Scientists from various countries will discuss policies and interventions to tackle HIV/AIDS at the 5th Pugwash conference on HIV/AIDS, a three-day conference starting here on April 7.

Briefing presspersons on Tuesday on the proposed event, Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, President, Pugwash Conferences, said the focus will be on policies and interventions that have successfully reversed the spread of HIV and improved health and quality of life of people infected by HIV.

It will bring together experts from the `first wave' countries - South Africa, Kenya and Uganda - where the epidemic struck first and those from the `second wave' - India and China - where it threatens to spiral out of control.

The experts will share their experiences and strategies that would result in plans for an effective national response to the threat and increased inter-regional cooperation.

Pugwash Conferences will bring together influential scientists, scholars and public figures concerned with reducing the danger of armed conflict and seeking cooperative solutions for global problems.

Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 with Sir Joseph Rotblat. The first conference on science and world affairs was convened in 1957 by Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada.

The UN Security Council recognised HIV/AIDS as a threat to human security in 2000 and linked its responsibility for maintaining international peace and security and the AIDS epidemic. The Pugwash Council reviewed it basic mission, which till then focussed on the nuclear peril, in the light of new threats to security.

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