AIDS 2026 pre-conference. 26 July 2026. Rio de Janeiro. Women Know What Works Rio 2026. Celebrating the successes of women living with HIV.

Women Know What Works

Pre-conference 26 July 14.00–19.00 (2 pm–7 pm)

Prior to AIDS 2026, the 26th International AIDS Conference
In Riocentro Convention & Event Center, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This afternoon pre-conference will bring together a diversity of voices of women living with HIV from around the world as well as international experts to focus upon women living with HIV in relation to prevention, treatment, care and quality of life. Topics will range from sexual and reproductive health and rights, criminalization, stigma and other topics affecting women living with HIV both globally and in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

The pre-conference builds upon a similar event hosted by Posithiva Gruppen prior to the IAS Conference on HIV Science in Kigali, Rwanda, in July 2025. The Women Know What Works concept was initiated by Ophelia Haanyama, a Zambian-born HIV advocate, outreach expert, author, mother, and woman living with HIV in Sweden.

Women Know What Works is not just a call to action, it is a reminder to the global community that women are at the centre of the global HIV and AIDS response – it is time to be heard, time to be recognised, because women know what works.

Register your interest in the pre-conference at bit.ly/wkwwi

Please note that the pre-conference is open to delegates registered for AIDS 2026 and pre-conference day pass holders only.

Women Know What Works is hosted by Posithiva Gruppen (PG), the national organisation for people living with HIV in Sweden, in partnership with ICW Global and IAS, with support from ASHM Health and sponsorship from Gilead Sciences.

 

Programme

  • 14:00: Welcome notes by chair and host
    Chair: Larkin Callaghan, Gilead, United States
    Host: Ophelia Haanyama, Posithiva Gruppen, Sweden

  • 14:10: Official representatives’ welcome message
    Rafaela Seixas Fontes    , Second Secretary at the Global Health Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Brazil

  • 14:20: Seeing the System: Understanding Structural Marginalisation How systems shape the lives of women living with HIV globally 
    Sophie Strachan, Sophia Forum, UK
  • 14:30: Successes and achievements for and by women living with HIV in the local/regional response
    Ariadne Ribeiro Ferreira, UNAIDS, Brazil/Panama
    Rapid respondents
    Q&A

  • 15:00: BREAK
  • 15:30: Gendered Impacts of HIV Criminalization: Evidence and Advocacy from EECA
    Medea Khmelidze, Eurasian Women’s Network on AIDS, Georgia
    Rapid respondents
    Q&A

  • 16:15: Community led interventions against internalized stigma among women living with HIV
    Kimberly A. Springer, Trinidad and Tobago Community for Positive women, Trinidad and Tobago
    Rapid respondents
    Q&A

  • 17:00: BREAK
  • 17:30: Resilience in Motion
    Erika Castellanos, GATE, Netherlands 
  • 17:30: The impact of the unseen women building resilient families 
    Barbara Kemigisa, Barbara Kemigisa Foundation, Uganda
    Rapid respondents
    Q&A

  • 18:20: Summary key themes
    Larkin Callaghan, Gilead, United States

  • 18:35: Musical performance
    Samba Que Elas Querem, Brazil

 

Learn more about the AIDS 2026 conference at www.iasociety.org/conferences/aids2026

 

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Posithiva Gruppen
Östermalmsgatan 5
114 24 Stockholm

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Öppettider

  • Lokalen är normalt bemannad och öppen för besök:

    Tisdagar, onsdagar och torsdagar 09.00–15.00 (lunchstängt 12.00–12.30)
    Öppet för alla som lever med hiv.

    Onsdagar 17.00–22.00
    Öppet för homo- och bisexuella män som lever med hiv.
    Vi bjuder på middag kl 18.00–20.00.

    Fredagar 17.00–22.00
    Öppet för alla som lever med hiv. På fredagar kan du som vill ta med närstående. 
    Vi bjuder på middag kl 18.00–20.00.

    Kansliet har sommarstängt fr.o.m. 19 juni t.o.m. 3 augusti, men kan nås via mejl. Lokalen har öppet som vanligt på onsdag- och fredagkvällar under hela sommaren.

  • Telefontid: alla vardagar 09.00–15.00

    Om du söker en specifik person på kansliet, boka gärna tid för ett besök.

Om oss

Posithiva Gruppen (PG) bildades 1985 och är Sveriges största patientorganisation för personer som lever med hiv. Vi är en rikstäckande ideell, partipolitiskt och religiöst obunden medlemsförening.

Vårt syfte är att samla personer som lever med hiv till utbildning och kontakt, ge stöd samt erbjuda psykosocial verksamhet och skapa forum för utbyte av erfarenhet. Vi bevakar även rättigheter och arbetar för att öka kunskapen om hiv i samhället samt motverka stigmatisering och fördomar.