International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC) to Host IAPAC Sessions 2002, May 16-17

Chicago, Ill.

-- HIV/AIDS-treating physicians from throughout the United States will gather May 16-17, 2002, at the University of Chicago Gleacher Center to debate and discuss four areas of clinical uncertainty in HIV medicine and treatment. To the extent possible, this debate will build consensus around practical HIV clinical management recommendations, and provide answers to many of the challenges clinicians face in the day-to-day treatment of their patients.

The four areas up for debate and discussion at the IAPAC Sessions 2002 include the use of resistance testing and therapeutic drug monitoring; HIV coinfection with hepatitis C and/or hepatitis B; metabolic and morphologic complications associated with antiretroviral (ARV) drugs; and sequencing of HIV treatment with ARV drugs.

“Given the increasing complexity of HIV clinical management and the numerous controversies that surround current drugs and diagnostic technologies, HIV/AIDS-treating physicians require a forum to debate practical issues and build consensus around future directions,” said José M. Zuniga, President/CEO of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC). “The IAPAC Sessions are intended to form the basis for practical HIV clinical management recommendations to physicians and allied health professionals nationwide.”

The two-day program includes 30-minute clinical presentations by thought-leaders in the field of HIV treatment attempting to answer pressing clinical questions. The presentations will be followed by debate and discussion periods involving invited physician delegates, treatment advocates, academe, and pharmaceutical and diagnostic technology representatives. Among the questions the delegates will attempt to answer are:

What regimen(s) are best used as initial therapy? Are class-sparing regimens superior initially to all-inclusive regimens? What are the options for patients who insist on once daily therapy? Should resistance tests be performed prior to initial therapy in the chronically infected patient? What are optimal definitions of the syndromes said to be associated with protease inhibitors and nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors? How should patients be monitored over time for possible metabolic and morphologic abnormalities? What are the therapeutic options for the treatment of HIV and HCV and/or HBV coinfection?

Following is an outline of the IAPAC Sessions 2002 program:

May 16, 2002
AM: Metabolic and Morphologic Complications Associated with Antiretroviral Therapy
PM: Antiretroviral Therapy in HIV-Infected Patients (Utilization/Sequencing)

May 17, 2002
AM: Antiretroviral Drug Resistance Testing in HIV Clinical Management
PM: HIV and Hepatitis B/C: Co-Morbidity and Treatment

The International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC) is the only non-profit medical association that exclusively represents more than 10,800 HIV/AIDS-treating physicians and allied health professional members in 83 countries.

For media registration and credentials, please contact Doug Hochstedler at (212) 567-2447 or via e-mail dhochstedler@nyc.rr.com.