October 29, 2010
The 19th International AIDS Conference will be held in July 2012 in Washington, and on Tuesday the AIDS 2012 D.C. Community Coalition held a City Hall reception to promote grassroots participation in the event. Elly Katabira of Uganda, president-elect of the International AIDS Society and chair of the Conference Coordinating Committee, met with District officials and AIDS activists, and he called on the local community to take part in the global gathering. Also speaking were Dr. Pierre Vigilance, director of the D.C. Department of Health, and Dr. Nmemdi Kamanu Elias, acting senior director of the D.C. HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD and TB Administration. IAS, which sponsors the gathering, expects more than 25,000 delegates from 200 countries, as well as 2,500 journalists, to take part.