At the 2009 HIV/AIDS Implementers Meeting held last weekend in Namibia's capital of Windhoek, 1,500 attendees from 55 countries discussed the role of local organizations in developing prevention, treatment, and care strategies.

"The purpose of the implementers meeting is really to bring together people who actually implement HIV/AIDS programs from around the world to really share their experiences," said Michele Moloney-Kitts, assistant US global AIDS coordinator.

At the meeting, some 345 program abstracts were submitted. According to Moloney-Kitts, these were then "reviewed by a panel of experts to determine whether or not, in fact, this reaches a certain standard that could be replicated in other places."

Moloney-Kitts told conferees the success of these strategies can be measured by four main points: sustainability, efficiency, effectiveness, and prevention.

"What you find is that it's really, really important for these programs to be locally owned and led," Moloney-Kitts said. "In other words, communities need to decide what's going to work for them. And they need to take charge of the programs. That's the only way you're going to ensure long-term continuity, as well as that the programs are really relevant."

A key concern of many attendees was how the global economic crisis will impact funding for AIDS-related programs. "There was a lot of discussion about how the HIV/AIDS community and programs continue to grow, expand, and be effective in a time of not growing resources; about how very important it is that we partner well; that we really look to make sure we're not wasting any resources," Moloney-Kitts said.