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Press Release by Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA): 6th December 2021 EMBARGO: None (For immediate release)

The Society for AIDS in Africa would like to thank the Government for responding to our call dated Friday, 3rd December 2021(18H00) where we drew the attention of the Honorable Minister of health, Dr. Joe Phaahla to the fact “that the country accreditation onsite was ongoing with antigen test without verifying the vaccination certificate” .

In that communication, we called for “all the stakeholders to kindly enhance this measure and especially the Honorable Minister of Health, to call people for accountability as ICASA 2021 should never be the hub for spreading the new COVID-19 variant in the country”.

We are indeed very pleased to read the press release dated 5th December 2021 “ICASA 2021 Conference to be Fully Virtual in Line with COVID-19 Safety Protocols”.

Given our noted concern in our previous correspondence “about the safety and security of all delegates and vaccination status remains compulsory and non-negotiable according to ICASA 2021 registration and accreditation protocols”, we welcome moving the conference to be entirely virtual.

Furthermore, the Executive Board of the Society for AIDS in Africa wish to inform all delegates and media that ICASA 2021 is now fully virtual including the Opening and Closing ceremonies.

For all our Honorable delegates that travelled to Durban we wish them a safe trip back home , and a conducive environment in Durban to enjoy the virtual ICASA 2021.

Luc Armand Bodea
ICASA Director/SAA Coordinator
Email: lucbodea@saafrica.org
Permanent Secretariat
Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA)
Office Direct: (+233)(0) 303 936 814
Mobile (+233) (0) 543 748 781
Email: info@saafrica.org
Accra- Ghana

The Society for AIDS in Africa was founded in 1989 at the fourth International Symposium on AIDS and Associated Cancers in Africa (now ICASA) held in Marseille France by a group of African scientists, activists, and advocates in response to the HIV epidemic. The establishment of the Society was the effect of the agitations of some African scientists for the conference to be organized on African soil. These agitations began in the preceding year at the third meeting held in Arusha, Tanzania in 1988. The cause of these scientists was supported by the then Director of WHO, Dr. Peter Piot.

At the 1990 conference held in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an Executive Committee was inaugurated to oversee the establishment of the Society and to coordinate subsequent International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) conferences. The society was officially registered in Nairobi, Kenya with a functional Secretariat in Nigeria. The permanent secretariat of the Society for AIDS in Africa was established in 2009 in Accra – Ghana.