Former Pres. Bill Clinton, along with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will help wrap up this week's International AIDS Conference. Friday's session will also include speeches by AIDS 2012 co-chairs IAS president Elly Katabira of Uganda and University of California, San Francisco Professor of Medicine Diane Havlir.
The five-day conference has presented new scientific knowledge and discussed the major issues facing the global response to HIV.
The conference began on Sunday evening with the Opening Session in Washington. Actress Sharon Stone presented the inaugural Elizabeth Taylor Award to brothers Dr. Kamiar Alaei and Dr. Arash Alaei, who pioneered the treatment of HIV and AIDS in Iran. Tuesday's session included speeches on improving testing and treatment options and increasing domestic spending on HIV/AIDS research.
Other highlights from the week included discussions about political leadership strategies and community engagement aimed at improving testing and treatment programs. On Thursday, former First Lady Laura Bush addressed the conference.
According to the United Nations, 34 million people live with HIV-AIDS, and 1.7 million died from the disease in 2011.