Following on the heels of The Lancet themed issue on HIV prevention launched at AIDS 2008, The Lancet has commissioned a series on the global HIV epidemic among people who use drugs.

Although conditions of mobility and migration are known to increase individuals’ vulnerability to HIV, there is little attention paid to the barriers migrants face in accessing comprehensive services, especially treatment and care.

A central focus of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is increasing country ownership in HIV strategy, program design and implementation.

Integration of services is a key challenge in the global response to the HIV and TB epidemics.

Despite years of prevention efforts, HIV incidence has been inadequately controlled and the HIV/AIDS epidemic remains a global public health crisis.

Three years after the adoption of the WHO/UNAIDS Guidance on Provider-Initiated HIV Testing and Counseling, universal access to HIV testing remains a distant goal.

Collectively we have made remarkable progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS – 4 million people have access to treatment, millions of children orphaned by AIDS are receiving essential services and health systems are being strengthened.

An update of current state of microbicide development will be provided. Speakers will provide a state of microbicide development update, safety and efficacy data from CAPRISA 004 and implications of the CAPRISA 004 trial results for the microbicide and PrEP field.

Rates of HIV and HCV in prisons, pre-trial detention centers and other closed settings are much higher than in the community, and risk behaviours – in particular consensual and non-consensual forms of sexual activity and injecting drug use – are prevalent behind bars.

For more information on this session, including access to speaker presentations, please see the conference Programme-at-a-Glance. Chairs: Debrework Zewdie (Ethiopia)Director, Global HIV/AIDS Program for the World BankHelene Gayle (United States)President and CEO of CARE USANora Volkow (United States)Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), NIH