This meeting is a follow-up to the "New Strategies for HIV/AIDS Surveillance in Resource-Constrained Countries" meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in January 2004, which led to the rapid dissemination of new surveillance methods and increased quality of data available to national and international programs.

The March 2009 meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, brought together technical staff from around the world to share innovations and developments in surveillance and closely related technologies. HIV surveillance is one of the core activities in which countries of varying resources and epidemics engage. Surveillance data are widely used and compared across national boundaries, and the more uniform implementation of advances in HIV surveillance techniques, the better comparability can be maintained.

Meeting Objectives

• Review the current state of HIV-related surveillance throughout the world
• Assess advances and setbacks in surveillance implementation since the 2004 meeting with particular attention to steps recommended at that meeting
• Evaluate gaps in global HIV surveillance
• Evaluate quality of global HIV surveillance activities
• Discuss the creation of an electronic surveillance journal
• Develop a strategic surveillance plan for the next five years

Specific, Measurable Outcomes
A final report, including a proposed strategic surveillance plan, will be published following the meeting. Additionally, a special, peer-reviewed supplement to a journal will be produced to disseminate the most important findings for inclusion in the scientific literature.

Sessions
The sessions at the meeting provided participants with an understanding of different surveillance methods. Country surveillance officers shared successes and lessons learned in HIV surveillance.