Durban AIDS Conference to be Broadcast on Internet
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XIII International AIDS Conference to be Broadcast on World Wide Web:
http://webcast.aids2000.com
Durban, South Africa, 26 June, 2000 - People with HIV disease and
healthcare professionals from around the world will be able to view
sessions from the XIII International AIDS Conference on the World Wide
Web, according to organizers of this global meeting. The Webcast
(http://webcast.aids2000.com) will feature scientific presentations,
complete with audio and video of speakers and their slides and will be
available 24 hours a day beginning July 9, 2000. The Webcast will in-
clude daily highlight summaries and up to 50 presentations from each
day of the conference, which will convene in Durban, South Africa, July
9-14.
"It has always been our intent to give the broadest possible coverage
to the proceedings of this AIDS conference. Thousands of people who are
passionately interested in new aspects of AIDS research, but unable to
travel to the conference, will be able to participate in the meeting,"
said Professor Hoosen Coovadia Gustaaf Wolvaardt of the XIII Interna-
tional AIDS Conference. "We hope that this global sharing of knowledge
will stimulate new thinking in the battle against HIV disease."
Speaking on behalf of the International Council of AIDS Service Organi-
zations, a co-organizer of the XIII International AIDS Conference, com-
munity program chairpersons Peter Busse and Clarence Mini said, "Commu-
nity-based organizations, providing care and support to millions of
people living with HIV around the world, must continue initiating a
broad range of crucial programs and policies to help support people
living with HIV disease. The provision of information on the Internet
is an additional resource for many of these groups and the people they
serve. The organizers of the XIII International AIDS Conference have
taken a major step forward in this effort by directly delivering con-
ference presentations to a wider audience. Webcast.aids2000.com is a
pioneering project and one that we hope will serve as a benchmark for
other scientific conferences."
Certain presentations will be available for review online within hours
of their initial public viewing in Durban, while remaining presenta-
tions will be available within one to two weeks of the conference. In
addition, daily summaries of the entire conference will be available
for review and print. The Webcast service will be available at the
Internet address <http://webcast.aids2000.com> and will be operational
from July 9, 2000 until December 31, 2001.
The International AIDS Conference takes place once every two years and
is the largest international HIV/AIDS forum for sharing new clinical,
scientific and social data. More than 10,000 delegates are expected to
attend this year's meeting in Durban, including scientists, physicians
and other healthcare professionals, people with HIV/AIDS, representa-
tives of community groups and social workers.
The Webcast is made possible by the financial sponsorship of Gilead
Sciences, Inc. "We are very pleased to be able to support this pioneer-
ing project," said John C. Martin, Ph.D., President and CEO of Gilead
Sciences. "By providing timely worldwide access to the comprehensive
information presented at the conference, the Webcast will make a sig-
nificant contribution to the knowledge base of all who are involved in
the global fight against HIV."
The Webcast service provider is MediTech Media Ltd., an international
medical communications agency with offices in the UK, USA, Germany, It-
aly, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.
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For more information, please visit:
http://www.webcast.aids2000.com/presspack
CONTACTS:
Sheryl Meredith
Gilead Sciences, Inc.
333 Lakeside Drive
Foster City, CA 94404, USA
Tel: +1-650-522-5505
Tel: +1-800-GILEAD-5
Fax: +1-650-522-5853
http://www.gilead.com
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