HIV Cascade of Care: Closing the Gap

HIV Cascade of Care: Closing the Gap took place on 7 June 2023 at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre in Singapore, prior to APACC 2023.

Effective and well-tolerated antiretroviral therapy (ART) has transformed HIV into a manageable lifelong condition and provided an effective tool for the prevention of new infections setting the stage to achieve the promise of an HIV-free generation. But, what do we need to end the HIV epidemic?  

Remarkable global efforts have set the strategic framework to achieve UNAIDS targets of 90% of people at risk or living with HIV to be linked to people-centered and context-specific integrated services. While national programs in certain regions and countries are advanced toward achieving the targets, others are lagging. This uneven progress highlights a need to exchange experiences on successful strategies, and ultimately strengthen the universal response.     

Towards 95 % of people know their status. Stigma, often internalized by PLWH, largely affects timely diagnosis due to a fear of the public perception of HIV-positive status, further increasing the gap in the diagnosis and treatment cascade.  Self-testing options and community-led services, on the other hand, are reducing this barrier facilitating the uptake of testing. 

Towards 95 % of people with known status initiate treatment. Rapid start, the U=U principle, simplification of treatment, and peer-support intervention are the cornerstone to improve the uptake of HIV treatment.  

Towards 95 % of people on the treatment are virally suppressed. New long-acting formulations are designed to reduce the daily pill burden experienced by PLWH, and tackle issues around compromised adherence. Nevertheless, one size does not fit all, and differentiated models of care are key to maintaining PLWH in care.  

Finally, a lifelong chronic condition is inevitably associated with an increased risk of depression, and related mental health issues that require support to sustain a good quality of life and well-being of PLWH. HIV stigma has been linked to depression, psychological distress, compromised adherence to therapy, and overall poor treatment outcome and quality of life, underscoring the importance to discuss strategies and mechanisms to reduce the stigma in the context of social and cultural milieus.  

To support these global efforts and bring them a step closer to PLWH, we organize a regional series “HIV Cascade of Care: Closing the Gap”. The program aims to address the remaining gaps toward an HIV-free generation and the strategies to close those gaps considering differences in epidemiology patterns, healthcare settings, and social milieus. Importantly, in contrast to the existing initiative, the spotlight of this program is on healthcare service delivery, rather than public health strategies. It provides a much-needed forum to exchange experience and extrapolate successful examples of comprehensive HIV care and service to achieve UNAIDS targets and ultimately end the HIV epidemic. 

General Information 

Practical Information 

Virology Education (VE), with support from the industry, is offering scholarships to attend the HIV Cascade: Closing The Gap, Asian Stigma & Discrimination Forum 2023, and APACC 2023. Depending on the type of scholarship awarded, the scholarship covers registration and/or travel and accommodation. 

The scholarships are supported by industry. These companies will have no control, influence, or involvement in selection of any attendees.

Virology Education is proud to support participation from professionals from underrepresented communities. We strongly recognize the value of conducting our programs with a diverse and inclusive representation of the scientific and medical global community, welcoming a range of backgrounds, experiences, and opinions and embracing the benefits that these differences bring. This diversity and equity are essential to our mission of advancing clinical care and scientific research worldwide.

Read our Code of Conduct

• Registration Scholarship: 

• Registration to the HIV Cascade: Closing The Gap, Asian Stigma & Discrimination Forum 2023, and APACC 2023

• Partial Scholarship:

• Registration to the HIV Cascade: Closing The Gap, Asian Stigma & Discrimination Forum 2023, and APACC 2023
• Accommodation

• Full Scholarship:

• Registration to the HIV Cascade: Closing The Gap, Asian Stigma & Discrimination Forum 2023, and APACC 2023
• Accommodation
• Travel

All scholarship awardees are required to attend the full meetings. Awardees must sign in at the beginning of each meeting day and sign off at the end of each day as requested by the Conference Organizer. At the close of the meetings, awardees must have completed the daily and overall meeting evaluations.

Recipient will provide post-meeting feedback and a summary about his/her meeting experience within one month after the end of the meetings. The feedback questionnaire will be an online survey with the recipient providing feedback on their experience at the meeting, scholarship procedure, and how they will implement the knowledge acquired at the meetings in their daily practice. The questionnaire will be sent to each recipient by email within one week after the conclusion of the meetings.

Applicants must:

• Be proficient in English to interact with faculty and fellow attendees
• Be actively involved in the field of HIV 
• Be able to show benefits to their patients / research / community from attending the meetings
• Be willing and able to share information learned at the meetings with a larger community
• Be eligible to obtain a visa for travel. Declare that she/he is able and willing to fund all other costs beyond the scholarship that are involved in attending the meetings, e.g. all other hotel, travel and subsistence expenses NOT covered by the scholarship.
• Declare to take out her/his own insurance policies (for travel, liability, illness and/or other necessary insurances in relation to her/his participation to the conference).
• Conference organizer will automatically decline all scholarship applications that do not conform to the eligibility terms

The scholarship applications must be submitted online through our Scholarship Application Portal by Sunday, 30 April 2023. The applicant will be asked to submit a motivational letter (min. 100 words) describing how their patients/research/community will benefit from the knowledge gained at these meetings, and their knowledge dissemination strategy, a CV, and a letter of recommendation (optional).

• All applications will be acknowledged upon receipt.
• All applications will be reviewed by an independent Scholarship Review Committee
• Successful applicants will be sent a scholarship agreement.
• After receipt of the signed scholarship agreement, successful applicants will receive instructions for further arrangements.
• All applicants will receive notification of the application status no later than two weeks prior to the meetings.

• Professional background
• Quality of the abstract (if accepted)
• Country of residence
• Recommendation by your supervisor
• Demonstrable benefits to patients / research / community by the knowledge to be gained at these meetings
• Strategy of knowledge dissemination
• Early-Career Investigator

• Incomplete applications will not be considered. Conference Organizer cannot be held responsible for any incorrect information that is submitted through the scholarship application portal.
• All travel, accommodation, and registration arrangements will be made by the Conference Organizer in collaboration with their preferred business travel partner. Conference Organizer cannot reimburse any travel, accommodation, or registration costs made by participants themselves.
• Retrospective applications will not be considered.
• Scholarship recipients must attend the entire conferences.
• Scholarship recipients are committed to attend the meetings in person. If they fail to do so, they will be charged the full amount of the travel and accommodation costs incurred and will be excluded from applications for future scholarships of Conference Organizer.
• Scholarships are non-transferrable.
• Conference Organizer cannot guarantee awarding the scholarship to prospective scholarship recipients until the confirmation of available funds. In the event that sufficient funding for the scholarship is not available, Conference Organizer will not be liable for any expenses or damages incurred by the prospective scholarship recipient with regards to the scholarship application and/or preparation for the meeting.
• Applications will be considered until the exhaustion of funds.
• Scholarship recipients will be responsible for all other costs associated with conference attendance.
• Conference Organizer will not be liable for any injury, death, damage, loss, delay, cost, expense, or inconvenience, causes of action claims and suits for property damage, theft of property or personal injury (including death) arising in connection with the scholarship and participation in the Conference.
• Conference Organizer reserves the right to make the final decision regarding all applications, which cannot be disputed.

As you plan your trip to Singapore, we want to make your stay as comfortable and convenient as possible. Therefore, we have secured a list of appropriate hotels with beneficial rates in the area.

Below you can find a variety of room and price categories in different hotels to accommodate your stay for APACC 2023 and/or the pre-meetings (HIV Cascade of Care and Asian Stigma & Discrimination Forum 2023). With a range of options available, you'll be able to choose the best fit for your needs and budget.

The HIV Cascade of Care: Closing the Gap is endorsed by societies and organizations. Their support and collaboration are key to the success of this meeting!

If you would like your organization to endorse this meeting, please contact Vicky Cheng at Vicky.Cheng@amededu.com.

HIV Cascade of Care: Closing the Gap is accredited by the following societies. To claim the CME points, members of the societies must either log on to the virtual congress portal, or sign up on the attendance sheet onsite, and attend the full sessions. Additional information such as membership number or license number might be required after the event.

The HIV Cascade of Care: Closing the Gap, Singapore, Singapore, 07/06/2023-07/06/2023 has been accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME®) with 5 European CME credits (ECMEC®s). Each medical specialist should claim only those hours of credit that he/she actually spent in the educational activity.

Through an agreement between the Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes and the American
Medical Association, physicians may convert EACCME® credits to an equivalent number of AMA PRA
Category 1 CreditsTM. Information on the process to convert EACCME® credit to AMA credit can be
found at www.ama-assn.org/education/earn-credit-participation-international-activities.

HIV Cascade of Care: Closing the Gap is accredited by the Taiwan AIDS Society with 4 credits. To claim the CME points, members of the Taiwan AIDS Society must log on to the virtual congress portal or sign up on the attendance sheet onsite and attend the full sessions.  

Fellows of the Academy that participate in overseas activities physically or online may submit their attendance proofs to their respective Colleges for CMECPD claim. Please be aware that some Academy Colleges might request their Fellows to seek pre-approval before attending overseas CMECPD activities. The approval will be up to individual Colleges’ own CMECPD accreditation policies

HIV Cascade of Care: Closing the Gap is accredited by the Infectious Diseases Association of Thailand (IDAT) with up to 8 credits. To claim the CME points, members of the IDAT must attend the full sessions (in-person or virtually). 

HIV Cascade of Care: Closing the Gap is accredited by the Malaysian Pharmacists Society with 6 credits. To claim the points, members must attend the full sessions (in-person or virtually).