EATG at AIDS 2026

EATG is happy to take part in the 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) with four posters and as a co-organiser of the Silver Zone in the Global Village.

Whether you are joining in Rio de Janeiro or online, we invite you to visit our poster presentations, meet our members, and join the activites at the Silver Zone to discuss how community leadership can shape policies and realities for people living and ageing with HIV.

EATG scientific posters

On Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 July, we invite you to visit our posters, meet the authors and discuss the work behind them. We showcase results and achievements from our projects SCOPE, Belong and RBDCOV.

The posters will also be available online for remote delegates.

• TUPED368 – Trust as a Bridge to Participation: Lessons from the RBDCOV COVID-19 Vaccine Trial in Immunocompromised Adults with HIV and Other Conditions
• TUPED356 – Let Communities Lead, for Real: The SCOPE Model for HIV Combination Prevention
• WEPEF661 – From Exclusion to Inclusion: Developing Evidence-Based Guidance to Include People Living with HIV in Non-HIV Clinical Trials Through a Community-Led and Multi-Stakeholder Process
• WEPED359 – Lessons from Participant Experience in RBDCOV: Opportunities and Challenges for Future COVID-19 Vaccine Trials in Immunocompromised Populations

Join the Silver Zone

EATG is also pleased to co-organise the Silver Zone, a dedicated networking and dialogue space in the Global Village that celebrates the experiences, leadership and resilience of older people living with HIV. This is a partnership between five organisations spanning four countries: Ribbon – A Center of Excellence (USA), Realize (Canada), the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) (Germany/Belgium), RNP+ Brasil (Brasil), and Coletivo Loka de Efavirenz (Brasil).

Booth 142, Global Village, Pavilion 2, Riocentro
July 27–30, 2026 · 10:30 AM–6:00 PM daily

Don’t miss these sessions featuring EATG members and partners:

• An exclusive preview of the first stories from the Legacy Chest, developed through the Long-Term Survivors of HIV project. Be among the first to experience this unique collection preserving the voices, memories and lived experiences of long-term and lifetime HIV survivors.

Wednesday 29 July – 11:00–12:00

Opening the Legacy Chest

Join the storytellers for the soft launch of the Legacy Chest, a living archive of stories, reflections, and testimonies from long-term and lifetime survivors of HIV.

45 mins

• Persistent Serophobia in Healthcare – exploring how HIV-related stigma continues to affect healthcare experiences and what can be done to address it.

Tuesday 28 July  – 16:00–17:00

Interactive Discussion: Persistent Serophobia in Healthcare – From Lived Experience to Better Care

An interactive discussion bringing together communities and healthcare stakeholders to explore persistent HIV-related discrimination in healthcare and identify practical actions for more equitable care across the life course.

Presenter: Yagos Koliopanos – Observatoire du sida et des sexualités (Belgium) · English · 45 mins

• Empowering People Living with HIV to Prepare for Better Care (CheckUp+) – showcasing a community-led initiative supporting people living with HIV to become more informed, engaged and confident partners in their healthcare.

Wednesday 29 July – 12:30–13:00

Empowering People Living with HIV to Prepare for Better Care

An innovative patient empowerment initiative developed by UTOPIA_bxl and with EATG partnership to strengthen consultation, preparation, shared decision-making and person-centered care.

Presenter: Axel Vanderperre – European AIDS Treatment Group, UTOPIA_bxl · English · 30 mins

• Aging with HIV in an Unequal World: From Resource Abundance to Global Justice – A panel with the participation of EATG member, Bogdan-Adrian Trandafir.

Thursday 30 July – 13:00–14:00

Aging with HIV in an Unequal World: From Resource Abundance to Global Justice

Despite major advances in HIV care, many older adults still face unequal access to essential services. This presentation calls on the global HIV community to advance equitable policies, strengthen coordinated systems, and ensure that everyone aging with HIV has access to the care, dignity, health, and community they deserve.

Moderators: Dan Murphy – Gilead Sciences, Bogdan-Adrian Trandafir – National Union of Organizations of People Affected by HIV/AIDS (UNOPA) (Romania), Hatem Laroussi – Laval University Faculty of Nursing (Canada), Marcelo Goncalves Ribeiro – RNP MINAS (Brazil), Vanessa Johnson – Ribbon – A Center of Excellence (USA) · English · 60 mins *(Each panelist will have a 15 min. discussion panel.)

Check out the programme of the Silver Zone 2026

Follow The Silver Zone – IAS Global Village Facebook Page 

Subscribe to the Silver Zone at the Global Village – IAS 2026 YouTube page

#SilverZoneAIDS2026

Eric the Dragking: Dancing HIV stigma away

On Monday 27 July, just before the Opening Ceremony of the Global Village (17:00 BST), Eric the Dragking will take the Global Village stage to dance HIV stigma away.

Powered by our member Eliane Becks Nininahazwe, aka as HIV Stigma Fighter

Eric the Dragking brings a bold, unapologetic celebration of HIV+ identity to the Global Village at AIDS 2026. Rooted in lived experience and years of HIV+ artivism across Europe and Africa, Eric’s dream is simple yet powerful: a world where people living with HIV are healthy, proud citizens, free from stigma and discrimination. Through the art of dragtivism, Eric creates a space where queer joy, resistance and visibility come together to show that we are far stronger than the tiny virus. Eric’s performance offers a vibrant queer-centred environment designed to inspire and empower young people living with HIV, while mobilizing allies to join the fight against stigma. Eric’s shows blend dance, theatre, humour and symbolic artefacts – including items designed by Brazilian artist Adriana Bertin – to spark conversations around HIV stigma, PrEP access and positive, healthy living. Since 2024, Eric has expanded his impact through international collaborations, including theatre performances on his HIV journey, the launch of the HIV Takes campaign at EACS 2025, community-based PrEP awareness work in Burundi, and ongoing HIV+ storytelling and ageing-with-HIV initiatives. These experiences enrich the performance with authentic insights from the frontline of HIV activism. At AIDS 2026, Eric invites Global Village visitors to dance HIV stigma away, celebrate queer resilience, and explore how creativity can shift narratives, open dialogue, and strengthen community connection. This cultural activity is not only entertainment – it is a call to action, a moment of healing, and a reminder that HIV+ bodies, voices and stories belong at the centre of the global HIV response.

Whether you are interested in community-led research, healthy ageing with HIV, clinical trials, HIV prevention or tackling stigma, we would love to meet you.

📍 Visit our posters.
📍 Join the Silver Zone.
📍 Talk to our members and discover how communities continue to drive innovation, equity and better health outcomes in the HIV response.

About the conference: AIDS 2026, the 26th International AIDS Conference, taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and virtually, comes at a crucial time for the HIV response. In the face of an unprecedented funding crisis and major cutbacks to HIV programmes, the world’s largest conference on HIV and AIDS will bring together people living with HIV, researchers, policy makers, healthcare professionals, funders, media and communities – to rethink, rebuild and rise.

AIDS 2026 Programme

#AIDS2026

#RethinkRebuildRise