International AIDS Society and Kaiser Family Foundation Announce Partnership to Provide Comprehensive Online Coverage of 2006 International AIDS Conference

MENLO PARK, Calif. and GENEVA, July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The International AIDS Society (IAS) and the Kaiser Family Foundation today announced a partnership to provide worldwide online access to the XVI International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2006) in Toronto, Canada, 13-18 August 2006.

Kaiser -- an independent operating foundation based in Menlo Park, Calif., USA -- will be the Official Webcaster for AIDS 2006, providing daily online access to conference developments on http://www.kaisernetwork.org/ , a free online health news and information service operated by the Foundation.

"We are delighted to partner with the Kaiser Family Foundation for the third time," said IAS executive director, Craig McClure. "We are committed to ensuring that those not able to attend the conference have access to its contents through an online webcast. In addition, the webcast allows those at the conference access to a lasting record of conference proceedings. With Kaiser's expertise, reputation and credibility, we are proud to be associated with the organization as the official webcaster of the conference."

"We look forward to once again working with IAS and others to help extend the reach of the conference by providing free and real-time access to the important developments coming out of Toronto," said Drew E. Altman, Ph.D., Kaiser President and CEO. "It's remarkably gratifying to get an email from someone in a village watching a plenary session on clinic computer."

In collaboration with IAS, the Toronto Local Host and co-organizers of the conference, the Kaiser Family Foundation will provide free, online access to the conference proceedings to NGOs, news organizations, policymakers, researchers and others at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/aids2006 .

Daily coverage will include: * Live and tape-delayed webcasts and transcripts of each day's sessions, including the opening and closing sessions, all plenary sessions, and selected other sessions and press conferences; * English-, French- and Spanish-language audio podcasts of select sessions; * Slide presentations from select conference sessions; * Daily narrated video highlights of conference developments; * A free Daily Update email providing direct access to the latest coverage (sign up at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/aids2006 ); * Special coverage of select conference sessions as well as news summaries from international media in the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report; * Interviews with newsmakers and journalists to summarize conference developments; and * Promotion of the conference and online coverage to communities, media, policymakers, scientists, and caregivers around the world, with a particular focus on those who lack the means to attend the conference in person. The goals of the partnership are to: * Raise global awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and successful efforts to address it; * Expand the reach of the conference by giving communities in the developed and developing world virtual access to the proceedings and information and tools to fight the epidemic; and * Extend the content and advances generated by the conference by making the information easily accessible online during the conference and afterwards.

Kaisernetwork.org provided special coverage of previous International AIDS Conferences in July 2004 in Bangkok, Thailand (available at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/aids2004 ) and in July 2002 in Barcelona, Spain (available at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/aids2002 ). That coverage was syndicated online by more than 200 partners and used by a number of major media outlets.

More information about the International AIDS Conference, including the latest program details, is available online at http://www.aids2006.org/ .

About the Kaiser Family Foundation

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation a non-profit, private operating foundation focusing on major health care issues. The Foundation is an independent voice and source of facts and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community and the general public. Information on the Foundation's HIV/AIDS policy work, journalism training programs and media partnerships to educate the public about HIV is available at http://www.kff.org/ ; daily news summary reports, webcasts, and other online content on developments in HIV/AIDS are available on http://www.kaisernetwork.org/ ; and country-level facts and data are available at http://www.globalhealthfacts.org/ .

About IAS

Based in Geneva, the International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world's leading independent association of HIV/AIDS professionals, with more than 7,000 members from 153 countries. IAS is the organizer of the IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention and is custodian and lead organizer of the International AIDS Conference. Other IAS initiatives include the Industry Liaison Forum (ILF), focused on removing barriers to investment in research in resource-constrained nations, and the electronic Journal of the International AIDS Society (eJIAS), a web-based medical journal dedicated to the dissemination of HIV/AIDS research conducted in developing countries.