"This Conference has to be a mobilising force, a place where all of us come together and say, 'we are going to make this work'," says Philippa Lawson of the International Community of Women Living With AIDS (ICW). "If we can't, then I'm sorry but we shouldn't be here, because this is not about us, it's about all those people who are not here, who are in the villages, dying or getting infected."

The XIV International AIDS Conference begins its work in Barcelona today at a crucial time in the unfolding global HIV/AIDS epidemic. According to a newly released UNAIDS report (Report on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic), 40 million people are now living with HIV infection around the word. Five million of these were infected in 2001. Three million people a year are dying from HIV-related illnesses.

The report presents many success stories from around the world in both preventing HIV infection and in improving access to treatments for people with HIV/AIDS, at least in some parts of the world. But this cannot conceal the fact that the HIV/AIDS epidemic has reached a critical stage, with escalating infection levels and no end in sight.

The report itself says: "An unacceptable number of government and civil society institutions are still in a state of denial about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and are failing to act to prevent its further spread or alleviate its impact. By failing to act, governments and civil society are turning their backs on the possibility of success against AIDS."

One response to this crisis was the June 2001 special session of the United National General Assembly on AIDS, UNGASS. Another has been the establishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Articles in this issue of AIDS 2002 Today look at aspects of both of these responses.

But many HIV/AIDS activists remain convinced that the best hope of success in the fight against AIDS remains action at the local and community level.

"The way this epidemic is, especially in the developing world, a lot needs to be done," says Millie Katana of People Living with AIDS in Uganda, "Government structures are wanting in many ways, not only for HIV but across the board. So people in NGOs and CBOs have a vital role to play."

"We have realised that we need to do things in a more organised way. In prevention, less than 1% of the world’s population is infected with HIV, so we have 99% to take care of. There are new technologies and information that we need to get across to the people. This is the key role we need to play."

"There is a lot of work that communities need to do, but we need to have the space to play that role. I am hearing that in some countries in Asia there are no NGOs, no CBOs, there is no place for institutions other than government. But governments have other issues to deal with. There should be space for us as NGOs to make our contribution to fighting the epidemic."

The publication of the UNAIDS report, timed to coincide with the opening of the Barcelona AIDS Conference, is also part of the response to the current critical situation with the AIDS epidemic.

"We have lots of reports and lots of documents," says Philippa Lawson. "But now that certain areas of the world have made a renewed, increased, commitment to resources in AIDS, they really need a document that shows where we have been and where we are going. This kind of report can really mobilise resources."

There is of course a wide gap between words and action. "People are stating the words, stating the commitments," says Lawson. "But action, that's what I'd like to see more of. We have these wonderful national AIDS plans and taskforces, but the only people who can hold the stakeholders accountable are the community."

The community, of course, is us. International AIDS Conference offers a unique opportunity for the 16,000 AIDS health workers, activists, scientists, people living with AIDS and media workers gathered in Barcelona to make a decisive intervention at this crucial point in the history of the epidemic. We have heard verbal commitments before, and seen no action. We now have the opportunity to help make sure that, this time, in the words of the Conference theme, knowledge and commitment are translated into action.

* Milly Katana is active in the Network of People Living With AIDS in Uganda and the Human Rights Action Group of Uganda. She was recently appointed as a representative of non-government organizations on the board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

* Philippa Lawson is the International HIV/AIDS Team Leader/ Senior Program Manager for the Academy for Educational Development in Washington DC, and is also a member of the International Community of Women Living with AIDS (ICW).

AIDS 2002 Conference News produced by Health & Development Networks/Key Correspondent Team