Learn more about the four satellite sessions organized and supported by the DSD programme at IAS – the International AIDS Society at AIDS 2026, the 26th International AIDS Conference, taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and virtually on 26-31 July 2026.

Prioritization under pressure: Rethinking HIV service delivery with TIER-Plus

Monday, 27 July, 11:30 – 12:30, Room: 203, Organizer: IAS

HIV programmes are operating in an increasingly constrained funding environment, requiring difficult choices about which services to sustain, scale, or adapt. This session will explore how countries and communities are approaching prioritization in practice, using TIER-Plus—an interactive decision-support tool designed to compare the impact, costs, and trade-offs of different service delivery strategies across the HIV cascade.

Drawing on early experiences from ministries of health and community partners, the session will highlight how TIER-Plus is being used to inform real-world decision-making, support transparent dialogue, and align stakeholders around high-impact HIV service delivery. Speakers will share lessons from applying the tool in diverse settings, including opportunities and challenges in balancing efficiency, equity, and feasibility.

The session will also introduce opportunities for further engagement with the TIER-Plus team during the conference.

AI and HIV: Who owns the future of public health?

Tuesday, 28 July, 13:30-14:30, Room: 203, Organizer: Lancet Global Health Commission on artificial intelligence (AI) and HIV

Artificial intelligence is rapidly entering HIV programmes – from predictive risk models and clinical decision support to program optimization and digital adherence monitoring. Yet the policy conversation remains dominated by technological optimism rather than governance. This raises uncomfortable but urgent questions.

· Who controls the algorithms shaping HIV programmes?

· Who owns the data that trains them?

· Who benefits from the efficiencies AI promises – and who bears the risks?

Without clear governance, AI deployment risks deepening inequities, creating dependence on proprietary platforms, and shifting power over public health systems toward private technology firms.

This satellite session will move beyond hype to examine the political economy of AI in HIV programs. Drawing on the recommendations of the Lancet Global Health Commission on AI and HIV, speakers will explore the governance structures, regulatory guardrails, and accountability mechanisms required to ensure AI strengthens – rather than undermines – health equity, national sovereignty, and sustainable HIV responses. The session will challenge participants to confront a central question: Will AI become a public good for global health—or the next frontier of digital dependency?

The future of HIV service delivery is…simplification, self-care, integration, and AI in practice

Wednesday, 29 July, 12:00-13:00, Room: 201, Organizer: IAS

The HIV response is at a critical inflection point. Countries are navigating funding constraints, health system integration, and rapid technological change—while striving to sustain gains and improve outcomes. The future of HIV service delivery is not pre-defined; it must be intentionally shaped.

This session will explore four core shifts defining the future of HIV service delivery: simplification, self-care, integration, and digital/AI-enabled approaches. Drawing on emerging findings from a multi-country consultation led by the IAS, speakers will present practical experiences, evidence, and policy considerations from diverse settings.

Presentations will highlight opportunities to streamline care (including annual clinical visits and earlier viral load), expand self-management, integrate HIV within broader health systems and with other chronic diseases, and responsibly harness digital and AI tools. A Ministry of Health perspective and insights from the Lancet Global Health AI and HIV Commission will ground the discussion in real-world implementation.

The future of HIV service delivery is not one thing — it is simpler, more integrated, more self-managed, and more intelligent. The question is how we get there, and for whom.

Unfinished business: Ending preventable deaths from advanced HIV disease in a changing HIV response

Wednesday, 29 July, 18:00-19:30, Room: 103, Organizer: IAS

Despite clear WHO guidance and proven interventions, advanced HIV disease (AHD) remains a major driver of HIV-related mortality. As the global HIV response pivots toward integration, sustainability and constrained funding environments, there is a risk that AHD – often complex, resource-intensive and affecting the most vulnerable – becomes deprioritized.
As countries navigate funding transitions and service integration, attention may shift away from those most at risk, including in inpatient settings where mortality remains highest.

This satellite confronts the gap between knowledge and delivery. Through clinical evidence, national programme experience, costing data and funder perspectives, speakers will examine why lifesaving diagnostics and treatments still fail to reach those most at risk, particularly in inpatient settings.

The session aims to provoke honest discussion about difficult trade-offs and identify urgent actions needed to ensure AHD prevention and treatment remain central to the HIV agenda and not an afterthought. The session will aim to identify a small set of priority actions for national programmes, implementers and funders to safeguard AHD services during the next phase of the HIV response.