INTRODUCTION

The 19th International AIDS conference was attended by 25 000 persons in Washington DC, United States of America (USA), in July 2012 under the theme “Turning the Tide Together”. The mood was generally upbeat with several notables including Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, endorsing the move toward an AIDS free generation. This was the first internationalAIDS conference held in the USA since 1990, made possible because President Obama lifted the restriction on persons living with HIV (PLHIV) from entering the USA. However, several sex-workers and drug users who wished to attend were barred since it remains illegal in the USA to allow them entry into the country