Roadmap to RIO: International AIDS Conference 2026

Ashton Josephs for the Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS

Discover what Coalition members are doing at the International AIDS Conference in Rio from 26 – 31 July. (Pre conference 14 – 25 July)

As members from our network convene in Rio and online for AIDS 2026, there are an abundance of satellites, symposiums, poster sessions and more to participate in.

Pre-Conference

24 – 25 July

  • Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and PATA are participating in the pediatric pre-conference.
  • PATA and Zvandiri are participating in the 18th International Workshop on Pediatrics & HIV. The workshop runs all day at the pre-conference. Find out more here.
  • PATA is participating in the Funders Concerned About AIDS Global Philanthropy Summit. Find out more here.
  • PATA has an exhibition booth from 24 – 31 July in the Exhibition Hall. It includes a space for young activists to find their voice.
  • Y+ Global has an exhibition booth from 24 – 31 July in the Exhibition Hall. The Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS and PATA are also joining at the booth to share an important survey on why sustainable financing matters as part of the Vibrant Young Voices Consortium. Complete the survey here.
  • PATA is joining the Aurum Institute Exhibition from 24 – 31 July.

26 July

  • PATA is participating in the Advancing HIV prevention science and access pre-conference session from 8am -7pm in Room 202 at the Riocentro Convention & Event Centre. Find out more here.
  • PATA is attending the 12th Symposium on Children & Adolescents with Perinatal HIV Exposure from 2 – 7pm in Room 205 at the Riocentro Convention & Event Centre. Find out more here.

27 July

  • PATA, ViiV Healthcare, Aidsfonds and Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation are participating in a Satellite: Bridging communities and health systems: Best practices for HIV care and support for children and adolescents. The session runs from 9.30 – 11am in Room 205 at the Riocentro Convention and Event Centre. Find out more here.
  • GNP+ has a session entitled: Insite Out: Healing Internalised Stigma and Reclaiming Mental Wellbeing for PLHIV from 10.30am-12.30pm in the Mental Health Networking Zone in the Global Village.
  • GNP+ has a session on Ageing with HIV across the life course: Experience sharing integrated services and wellbeing for people living with HIV in all our diversity from 11-11.45am in the Silver Networking Zone in the Global Village.
  • ViiV Healthcare is hosting the Positive Action Global Village Event: Strengthening Community Health Systems for Improved HIV Outcomes from 11.20am – 12pm in the ViiV healthcare Global Village Booth.
  • PATA is taking part in the Opening Session from 5-6.30pm in Room 101A at the Riocentro Convention & Event Centre. Learn more here.

Main Conference

28 July

  • The Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS is presenting the Prize for Excellence in HIV Research Related to Children and Adolescents on Tuesday, 28 July at 10:30 – 11:30 (GMT-03) in room 201 during the session: From research to real life: Translating evidence into pregnancy, breastfeeding and paediatrics care. Find out more here.
  • As part of work with Aidsfonds, Dr. Aisha Dadi, Project Director‑Paediatric and Adolescent Program ​​​​Society for Family Health is presenting an abstract on Positioning adolescents living with HIV for sustained community-based care: a community-driven model for resilience building and age-appropriate disclosure in Northern Nigeria. This will be available from 28 July at the poster exhibition. Find out more here.
  • ViiV Healthcare have a Symposium: Future Care is Shared: Redefining Peer Support from 12-2pm in Room 204. Find out more here.
  • PATA is participating in a workshop: Where stigma ends, care begins from 2.30 – 4.30pm at the Riocentro Convention & Event Centre in Room 101B. Learn more here.
  • PATA is participating in a Symposium: What’s next! Young leaders shaping the future of the HIV response from 3 – 4pm at the Riocentro Convention & Event Center-
    Room 103. Find out more here.
  • GNP+ has a session on Reimagining Advocacy for Children Living with HIV from 3.30-4.30pm in the Global Village. Find out more here.
  • PATA is participating in the Symposium: Translating science into sustainable action: Innovative partnerships that work from 4.30 – 5.50pm in Room 103 at the Riocentro Convention & Event Cenrte. Learn more here.
  • PATA is participating in the IMPAACT4HIV Satellite Session: Adapting AHD for routine care and outbreak response: Experience from integrating AHD and Mpox. The session takes place from 6-7.30pm

29 July

  • Zvandiri and United for Global Mental Health are taking part in a session: Picture This: A Visual Exploration of Living with HIV and Thriving from 10-11am in the Mental Health Networking Zone.
  • PATA is participating in a Symposium: SY10 Leadership at the tipping point: Protecting the gains and advancing progress in a new era of the HIV response from 10.30 – 11.30am in Room 201 at the Riocentro Convention & Event Centre. Find out more here.
  • ViiV Healthcare is hosting the Positive Action Global Village Event: Paediatric HIV: Strengthening Care Across the Continuum from 10.30 – 11.10am in the ViiV healthcare Global Village Booth.
  • ViiV Healthcare is hosting the Positive Action Global Village Event: Breaking Barriers: Tackling HIV Stigma and Discrimination from 11.20am – 12pm in the ViiV healthcare Global Village Booth.
  • Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is participating in a Satellite: Children can’t wait: From funding crisis to foundational fixes: What it will actually take to end pediatric HIV from 12 – 1pm in Room 103 at the Riocentro Convention & Event Centre. Discover more here.
  • Zvandiri, Alliance for Public Health (APH) and FrontlineAIDS are taking part in a session: Building resilience to crises: Lessons learnt from the frontline from 12-12.45pm at the APH booth.
  • PATA is participating in a Symposium: What’s next! Young leaders shaping the future of the HIV response from 3 – 4pm in Room 103 at the Riocentro Convention & Event Centre. Find out more here.
  • PATA is participating in a Symposium: SY18 Safeguarding space and services for key populations in the face of shrinking resources from 4.30 – 5.30pm in Room 103 at the Riocentro Convention & Event Centre. Find out more here.

30 July

  • ViiV Healthcare is hosting the Positive Action Global Village Event: Youth take-over. How young people are leading on HIV prevention uptake in Uganda, South Africa and Brazil from 10.30 – 11.10am in the ViiV healthcare Global Village Booth.
  • ViiV Healthcare is hosting the Positive Action Global Village Event: Exploring Artificial Intelligence in Advocacy: What It Can (and Can’t) Do for content creation from 11.20am – 12pm in the ViiV healthcare Global Village Booth.
  • ViiV Healthcare have a Satellite: Long-acting antiretrovirals – A promise for hope from 12-1pm in Room 204. Find out more here.
  • PATA is co-hosting a poster exhibition: Navigating HIV status disclosure: adolescents’ perspectives on barriers and facilitators from 12-13.00pm at the Poster exhibition space. Find out more here.
  • PATA is hosting a poster exhibition: Appraising Paediatric and Adolescent HIV Services Across Eleven African Countries: A Multi-Country Analysis using the WHO Health Systems Building Blocks Framework from 12.15 – 1.15pm. Find out more here.
  • Zvandiri is participating in a session alongside the Pan African Positive Women’s Coalition-Zimbabwe, the National AIDS Council and Ministry of Health and Child Care, Zimbabwe entitled No Girl Left Behind: Balancing Consent, HIV Risk, Post-test Linkages for Adolescent Girls in Zimbabwe from 3-4pm in the Women’s Networking Zone.
  • PATA is participating in an Oral Abstract Session from 4.30 – 5.30pm in Room 204 at the Riocentro Convention & Event Centre. Find out more here.

31 July

  • PATA is participating in a Symposium: SY27 CHOICE through digital solutions: Empowering adolescents for comprehensive prevention, treatment and access from 10.30 – 11.30am in Room 103 at the Riocentro Convention & Event Centre. Learn more here.
  • PATA is moderating an Abstract Session on: Practice and partnerships: Community roles in driving HIV service delivery from 1.30 – 2.30pm in Room 203 at the Riocentro Convention & Event Centre.

Other – Poster Exhibition

  • Y+s Edna Mwemutsi has a poster on: Sustaining Youth-centered HIV services amid donor-funding cuts: The Kijana Imara Project, Kigoma Tanzania from 12-1pm in the poster exhibition area from 12-1pm on 28 July. Find out more here.
  • Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Foundation’s Lucky Makonokaya has a poster at the poster exhibition entitled: Twenty-four-month survival among clients with cryptococcal antigenemia enrolled in Malawi’s advanced HIV disease program: a retrospective cohort study and another: Programmatic gaps under option B+: factors associated with residual vertical HIV transmission in Malawi, 2020–2024.
  • Y+s Priscilla Ama Addo has a poster on: Transforming Guidelines to Games: Young People Living with HIV Reimagining Self-Care through Creativity from 12-1pm on 29 July in the poster exhibition area. Find out more here.
  • Y+s Bahati has a poster on: Digital Media & Peer Networks as dual-track model to increase HIV self-testing uptake among university students from 12-1pm on 29 July in the poster exhibition area. Find out more here.
  • Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Foundation’s Emile Nforbih Shu has a poster entitled: Antiretroviral treatment interruption and return-to-care outcomes among people living with HIV in two regions of Cameroon, 2025.
  • Zvandiri’s Ackim Nkomo has an E-Poster available to view on the on-demand virtual platform: Trends in screening for tuberculosis (TB) preventive treatment eligibility and utilization among adolescents and young people living with HIV in Zimbabwe, 2023-2025. Find out more here.
  • Y+s Maxwell Katekwe has a poster on: Safeguarding Youth-Led HIV/SRHR Services from Donor Shocks After the 2025 Funding Freeze: A Policy Agenda from 12-1pm on 30 July in the poster exhibition area. Find out more here.

Other – Abstracts

  • Zvandiri’s Michael Jana has an abstract on 28 July from 12-1pm: Common experiences among adolescents and young people living with HIV (AYPLHIV) enrolled for a peer-led intervention in Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Find out more here.
  • Zvandiri’s Tanaka Makuhwa has an abstract on 28 July from 12-1pm: Beyond the pill: the pivotal role of peer-led CATS in navigating the mental health frontier for AYPL. Find out more here.
  • Aidsfonds’ Aisha Dadi has an abstract: Positioning adolescents living with HIV for sustained community-based care: a community-driven model for resilience building and age-appropriate disclosure in Northern Nigeria. Find out more here.