Pathfinder International has published a comprehensive trainer's guide and participant's manual, "Community Home-Based Care for People and Communities Living with HIV/AIDS: A Handbook for Community Health Workers."

The curriculum provides the knowledge and skills necessary for community health workers to holistically care for people living with HIV/AIDS, train primary caregivers and clients, and mobilize communities around HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment, and support. The trainer's guide uses simple language and emphasises participatory learning that does not require high literacy levels from participants.

Topics include HIV basics, communication skills, nursing care, nutrition, positive living, family planning, HIV prevention, antiretroviral therapy, and community mobilisation.

The publication can be downloaded at: www.pathfind.org

The conference will address the gap in translating knowledge into practice by providing a forum for:

• sharing innovations and success stories to inform future approaches to HIV and AIDS
• creating effective awareness of obstacles to application of what is known
• sharing on how to contextualise imported or imposed models for intervention
• defining effective packages for action
• identifying effective approaches that yield results

For more information or to register, visit: www.tichinafrica.org

CROI provides a forum for scientists and clinicians to present, discuss, and critique their investigations into the biology and epidemiology of human retroviruses and the diseases they produce with the goal of translating laboratory and clinical research into progress against the AIDS epidemic.

For more information and online registration, go to: www.retroconference.org

This conference is due to take place from 27 - 29 March 2007 in Kampala, Uganda with the theme of "HIV/AIDS and Children: The challenges of care and protection of children in Africa".

For more information contact:
5th African Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect
C/O ANPPCAN Uganda Chapter
Plot 1
Kira Road
P.O. Box 26460
Tel: +041-254550
email: [email protected]
[email protected]

Online at: www.anppcanug.org

Registration, abstract submission and exhibition sales for the Fourth International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2007) to be held in Sydney, Australia, 22 - 25 July 2007, are now available online. www.ias2007.org

IAS 2007 will feature reports on the latest developments in the areas of basic, clinical and prevention science. The conference will continue its strong emphasis on treatment and pathogenesis, while building upon the biomedical prevention agenda introduced in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2005.

As a defining feature of this conference series, IAS 2007 will examine how scientific advances can, in very practical ways, inform the global response to HIV/AIDS.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

The abstract submission deadline is 7 March 2007, midnight CET (Central European Time). Abstract submission guidelines, programme tracks and other abstract related information are available here: www.ias2007.org

ONLINE REGISTRATION

To encourage broad participation in the conference, organizers are offering a two-tiered fee structure, with lower registration fees for delegates from low- and middle-income countries and students/post-docs. Delegates are encouraged to register before 1 February 2007, midnight CET, to avoid a surcharge.

Click here for information on the types of registrations and the corresponding fees.

Click here to create a conference profile and then register for the conference.

EXHIBITIONS, SATELLITES AND SPONSORSHIP

Exhibition sales are available until 10 May 2007. Click here to read more about exhibitions, satellites and sponsorship opportunities.

IMPORTANT DATES:

• Standard registration fee ends: 1 February 2007
• Abstract submission closes: 7 March 2007
• Late registration fee ends 10 May 2007
• Exhibition sales close: 10 May 2007 (subject to availability)

This 140-page document by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative provides a comprehensive overview of vaccine development to date.

It presents the scientific hurdles that have impeded the search for an effective vaccine and discusses novel research approaches to accelerate its progress.

Leading experts in the field have contributed to the series of mini-reviews, covering the entire scope of vaccine development, from basic research to product delivery. The book is intended to advise today's scientists, immunologists, virologists and public health specialists on the current challenges and future direction of AIDS vaccine development.

Copies can be accessed online at: www.horizonpress.com

'Time to Talk' is a new HIV information and training resource for churches and faith-based organisations, published by the Strategies for Hope Trust.

The book contains guidelines for running group activities - role plays, games, quizzes, and discussions - that are all designed to help men and women examine the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours that can spread HIV and, if necessary, make changes in their own lives.

According to the authors, the activities in the book are designed to help couples talk openly with one another about issues related to sex, culture and the wife-husband relationship.

The book can be accessed online at: www.stratshope.org

The UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has released a toolkit for youth in Africa on how to use theatre in AIDS education.

This toolkit was designed for youth groups and is largely based on a workshop held in Uganda, that brought together approximately 30 youth volunteers from several African countries, as well as Canada and India to learn about the use of interactive theatre in response to the pandemic in English-speaking African countries.

For more information on this project, including similar theatre manuals developed for other regions in Arabic, French and Spanish, visit: www.unesco.org or email: [email protected]

The International HIV/AIDS Alliance and Family Health International have published an updated version of the CD-ROM on supporting orphans and other vulnerable children.

It now contains over 650 documents sharing learning and resources from a wide range of organisations.

Order a free copy of the toolkit: www.aidsalliance.org