International AIDS Conference: First time in Munich

This summer, people from all over the world come together for the International AIDS Conference - for the first time in Munich. Around 15,000 participants from over 175 countries are expected to attend the world's largest socio-political and civil society scientific HIV conference.

International AIDS Conference 2024

Professor Johannes Bogner is a specialist in infectious diseases and head of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the LMU University Hospital. He played a leading role in the application process to bring the conference to Munich.

“HIV is still a global problem, with around 40 million people infected with the virus. Even though we now have outstanding prevention and education along with state-of-the-art diagnostics including self-testing, more than 1.3 million new infections are recorded every year – in Germany, around 2,000. As such, we have not yet won the fight against HIV. We need further improvements via new scientific insights and new drugs.

To facilitate exchange between experts on these issues, the 25th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2024) will take place from 22 to 26 July 2024. The Global Village, which is open to the public free of charge, opens on 21 July. Organized by the International AIDS Society (IAS), AIDS 2024 is the foremost political and scientific conference in the fight against HIV. We are proud and happy to have brought this conference to Munich for the first time in conjunction with Professor Christoph Spinner from the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

The latest scientific findings will be divided into six different categories and discussed in over 40 symposia. Around 15,000 delegates are expected to attend, while various high-profile politicians, public representatives, and artists will also be at the conference and the Global Village.”

Sociological perspectives

Hella von Unger is Professor of Sociology with a special focus on qualitative methods of empirical social research. One of her main research interests is the sociology of health and illness. Since the 1990s, she has also researched HIV/AIDS.

“Since the epidemic began over 40 years ago, it is clear that HIV/AIDS is far more than just a health and medical problem – it was, and still is, also a social problem. Attending to the social dimensions sharpens our awareness of the reproduction of social inequalities. One example is the enduring significance of gender aspects: women, men, nonbinary and trans people are exposed to different risks and stigmatizations, and therefore we need specific preventive strategies, supports, and socially transformative measures. Moreover, gender is bound up with other categories of difference, such as sexuality, social class, and ethnicity.

The role of civil society in destigmatizing HIV/AIDS – globally and in Germany – should be emphasized. Organizations like the German AIDS Service Organization (Deutsche Aidshilfe) perform crucial educational work and support people affected by HIV/AIDS, helping dismantle prejudices and promoting greater openness in how we talk about the disease. In Germany, cooperation between civil society and government was a major key to the successful fight against the epidemic. This highlights the importance of integrating government measures and civil society engagement in order to provide support geared to the reality of people’s lives as well as access to treatment and community-based prevention.

Despite great progress, there is still more that needs to be done. It is vital to intensify prevention work, access to treatment and increase the involvement of marginalized groups. Only through the continued interplay of medical, community, and societal measures can we effectively combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic and promote social justice at home and around the globe.”

Prevention and education

Dr. Stefan Zippel heads the Psychosocial Counselling Center at the Clinic and Polyclinic for Dermatology and Allergology. In 2003, he launched a prevention project which provides education about HIV infections and sexually transmitted diseases at high schools in Bavaria.

“Until the mid-1990s, AIDS was not just an illness, but also a stigma. When providing counselling, we had to take this into consideration. This was challenging, as it was not just about conveying information, but about the big taboo subjects of death, socially unacceptable sexuality, and addiction.

With the successes of combination therapies, counselling moved away from end-of-life care toward reinforcing therapy management. Prevention requires clear information about the routes of transmission, which means not being afraid to use frank language about sexual practices. But we must never forget solidarity in the process. After all, exclusion causes illness!

Only when people experience acceptance of who they are and their sexual identity will they be able to hear and implement prevention messages. At the beginning of the AIDS pandemic, this was not always prevalent in the sociopolitical response. The danger exists that we will neglect prevention. People tend to forget that every year, teenagers are discovering their sexuality for the first time. And even if a HIV infection is no longer a life-threatening condition in wealthy countries, we are seeing a rise in other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). These negatively impact the lives and life planning of many people.”

Vaccines against HIV

Dr. Arne Kroidl is a specialist in internal medicine and head of the Unit of HIV and Coinfections at the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine.

“The development of protective HIV vaccines is a key preventive target in the global fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. However, despite more than 30 years of research, no effective HIV vaccine is yet available. Only one trial has so far demonstrated a modest preventive effect against HIV infection, using a viral vector/recombinant protein HIV vaccine regimen. Large vaccine efficacy trials have since been conducted, using different viral vector/protein-based regimens in HIV high-risk populations, however, trials were prematurely terminated due to lack of efficacy. This also included the latest DNA/viral vector/protein based PrePVacc efficacy trial that was recently stopped due to futility. The results of this trial will be presented at the AIDS 2024 conference.

The Tropical Institute Munich has been involved for over 20 years in HIV vaccine research conducted in Africa in collaboration with European, United States, and African partners, which led to the formation of the PrePVacc Network. Contributions include the conduct of clinical trials and immunological analysis for correlates of vaccine immunity and protections, established at our African partner institutions.”

The situation in the Global South

Professor Michael Hoelscher is Director of the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at LMU University Hospital.

“After more than four decades of combating HIV/AIDS, we are still tasked with mobilizing support for resource-constrained countries and improving prevention and therapies, particularly for the most vulnerable populations. The Tropical Institute Munich remains dedicated to enhancing health outcomes in the Global South.

Over the past 35 years, we have collaborated with our long-term partners in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Mozambique to conduct numerous studies aimed at developing better monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, diagnostic tools, and treatment protocols for mothers and their newborns. Additionally, we focus on improving treatments for tuberculosis, the leading cause of death among HIV-infected individuals.

Our research also aims to uncover previously unknown risk factors, such as infections with parasitic worms, that contribute to HIV acquisition. By addressing these co-infections, we can potentially reduce the burden of HIV. The Tropical Institute Munich carries out this vital work in collaboration with global partners, including the German Center for Infection Research in Germany, as well as institutions across Europe and the United States.”

Paediatric HIV

Arne Kroidl: “The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal includes the elimination of new paediatric HIV infections by 2030. New HIV infections among children declined by more than half from 2010 to 2020, primarily due to the increased provision of antiretroviral therapy to pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV and post-natal prophylactic treatment for infants. Still, an estimated 1.5 million children aged 14 years and younger are living with HIV, and 130,000 infants are still newly infected every year. Infant mortality is high without immediate access to life-saving HIV treatment.

The Tropical Institute Munich is leading the LIFE network, conducting clinical trials for HIV-infected mothers and their infants at primary health facilities in Tanzania and Mozambique in collaboration with African and European partners. Activities focus on decentralized neonatal HIV test & treat procedures, identification of high-risk cases for vertical HIV transmission and reduction of early infant mortality. Novel preventive and therapeutic strategies related to the development of broadly neutralizing antibodies are investigated.”

Living with HIV and modern therapies

PD Dr. Maximilian Münchhoff is a group leader at LMU’s Max von Pettenkofer Institute for Virology and Gene Center Munich. For his research into HIV/AIDS, he was awarded a research prize by the German Society for Infectious Diseases (DGI).

“Thanks to intensive research, the treatment of HIV positive people has improved massively over the past few decades. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) with modern substances has few side effects and can be conveniently taken as a single tablet per day. This therapy is not a cure, however, meaning that patients have to regularly take their medication for all their lives. Current developments are seeking to further simplify therapy by means of long-acting drugs, some of which can be administered as injections several months apart.

With antiretroviral therapy, people infected with HIV have a life expectancy almost identical to that of HIV-negative people, although the persisting stimulation of the immune system, with the attendant inflammatory processes, negatively influences the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Meanwhile, ensuring that modern antiretroviral substances are widely available in the Global South remains a challenge.”