July 16 - 21, 2009 Trip to Cape Town, South Africa to the International AIDS Society
Diary Prequel Package, pp.212-214 · diary_prequel:entry:00536
Page text: p.212, p.213, p.214 · original PDF
- Date
- 2009-07-16 00:00 (day precision)
- Type
- diary entry · diary
- author
- Anthony S. Fauci
July 16 - 21, 2009 Trip to Cape Town, South Africa to the International AIDS Society
(IAS) Conference on Pathogenesis, treatment and Prevention held at the Cape Town
Convention Center from Sunday, Sept. 19 to Wed, Sept 22. I left USA on Thursday, July
16 and arrived in Cape Town on Friday evening. Came DC with fuel stop at Dakar, then
to Johannesburg and on to cape Town. Exhausting 20 hour trip. Stayed at Cullinan Hotel
(Southern Sun)
On Saturday AM, July 18 gave the Keynote Address at the HIV/TB research Meeting at
the Desmond Tutu HIV Center of the University of cape Town. Lecture extremely well
received. I spoke of the same critical needs for TB (together with HIV) research that I
spoke about a few weeks before at the Pacific Health Summit in Seattle.
During the afternoon of July 18 drove down to Cape Point with Gray Handley. Clearly
Cape Town and the Western Cape is one of the most beautiful cities/areas in the world. It
look so much like the California coast from San Francisco down to Monterrey/Carmel.
Weather was stunningly beautiful with crisp clear skies and temperatures about 65-70.
This is most unusual at this time of years since this is SA's winter.
In the evening of July 18, met with Julio Montaner (Pres. IAS) and co-chair of meeting
and Craig Mc Clure (Exec. Director of IAS) and Robin Gorna upcoming President of IAS
to discuss the possibility of holding the 2012 IAS meeting in Washington, D.C. They
know that I am pushing to have the immigration ban lifted in time to make the decision to
have the meeting in DC. The ban has been lifted by law and is now in public comment
for final lifting by HHS. Also, they wanted me to help get Michelle Obama or the
POTUS to open the meeting in 2012.
Night of July 18, went to terrific dinner at a vineyard (Stillness Manor) hosted in my
honor by Linda-Gail Bekker. Linda Gail turned out to be fantastic as a major player in
the Cape Town (and all of SA) AIDS clinical trials network that NIAID supports. Met
with many South Africans to whom I told the story of PEPFAR. Only a few of them
actually knew how it started: John Hargrove, Robin Wood (Linda-Gail's husband), Brian
Williams, Brian Brink, Des Martin, among others.
Sunday, July 19, took tour of Robben Island with Gray Handley. It was an incredibly
moving experience. The tour guide was a person who was imprisoned there for 5 1⁄2
years. I saw Nelson Mandela's cell, the quarry where he worked at hard labor and the
place where he planted his garden in the exercise courtyard of the prison. That evening, I
attended the opening ceremony of the IAS Conference.
Monday, July 20. Visited the Township of Gugulethu and participated in the launching
of the SAAVI102/HVTN 073 vaccine trial, which is a collaboration between the NIAID
and the South Africans on a DNA prime MVA boost vaccine. The South Africans
involved are Linda-Gail in CT and Glenda Gray in Durban (KwaZulu-Natal)
Collaboration also with VRC (Gary Nabel). Big ceremony at the launching with the
Minister of Science and technology (Dr. Pandor - woman), Anthony (Tony) Mbewu -
head of SA MRC, and Minister of Health Matsoaledi. I was very moved by the terrible
conditions of poverty in the Township of Gugulethu, but was equally impressed with
what was being accomplished by the roll-out of PEPFATR by Linda-Gail in this setting.
The extraordinary overlap and burden of disease with TB here and in Masiphumelele (see
below) was staggering. 30% of patients on the PEPFAR program were diagnosed and
were on treatment for TB when they entered program. Another 20% were diagnosed with
TB when they got there and another 10% developed TB during the time that they were
there.
In the early afternoon (1:00 PM I gave the Plenary Keynote at the meeting on the subject
of "US Sponsored HIV/AIDS Research and Prevention: Science and Policy". Following
my talk was a talk by Eric Goosby, the new head of the Office of Global AIDS
Coordinator (OGAC). The session was devoted to AIDS science and policy in the new
Obama administration. My talk was very well received. I emphasized the science but
also stressed that the needle exchange ban would soon be over as would be the
immigration constraints, as would be abstinence only. I clearly stated that abstinence
only does not work. The crowd loved it.
That night had reception at the Consul-General's (Alberta Mayberry) home (amazingly
beautiful view of CT from her terrace. All the implementers of PEPFAR were there from
USAID, CDC, and South Africans. I gave a short speech sincerely thanking them for
their work, and told them the story of PEPFAR. Eric Goosby also gave a speech
July 22
tion program. I
Tuesday, July 21. I visited with Linda-Gail the Township of Masiphumelele. Again, I
was deeply moved by the poverty and physical nature of the place. Like Gugulethu, there
were small huts made of corrugated tin and cardboard thast were stuck to each other in a
"wall-to-wall" fashion for acres and acres. One could barely walk between the huts.
Again, the work that the South African health personnel were doing was inspiring. The
same numbers and problems with HIV and TB as in Gugulethu.
Tuesday night we flew back to DC and arrived early (6:00 AM) on Wednesday, July 22