Although I didn’t get a chance to attend in person, I was able to keep tabs on what was going on at the AIDS 2010 conference this year through one of my favorite social tools: Twitter.

By dropping in the hashtag for the conference (#AIDS2010) you can see the real time updates of what folks are saying about the event. Here are 11 great resources that stood out to me – hopefully they are useful to you:

1. KFF’s Global Health Policy Report lists AIDS 2010 Interview Videos:

2. Review article of Bill Clinton’s Plenary Speech: (here is the actual video)

3. The official AIDS 2010 blog

5. UNAIDS Today website: new multimedia resource created in time for the Vienna event. Features blog posts covering relevant AIDS2010 material including videos, photos and commentary on the conference.

6. Bill Gates’ thoughts on the breakthrough treatment for female HIV prevention

7. Reuters article on President Obama’s dedication to the HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts through new global health initiative.

8. Born HIV-Free campaign: The campaign put on by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to continue research in preventing the transmission of HIV from mother to child. Great videos on their Youtube channel.

9. CNN article with stories from 3 men living with HIV and their historical points of view. Including a highlight on Phil Wilson, founder of the Black AIDS Institute, whom I got a chance to talk with earlier this year. See video below of an interview I did with him during a CDC sponsored college event for Act Against AIDS campaign.

10. The Numbers Game: Infections, Deaths and Treatments for HIV/AIDS around the globe

11. Interview with Regan Hoffman, Editor-in-Chief of POZ Magazine

Update: Mark S. King from My Fabulous Disease points out his excellent coverage of the Vienna meeting complete with video interviews!

This is a repost of my article on the Ashoka Changemaker’s Social Media Blog regarding their new competition.

With the advancement of an increasing set of social tools, better ways to stay connected and the growing spotlight on better health care options – a movement is getting into full swing to empower patients and individuals to live better, healthier lives. You’ve heard of power to the people, well things are moving to give power to the patient.

• Accessing your medical records on your sleek new smartphone.
• Doctors chatting with you over an instant messenger platform to help with your questions on a sore throat.
• Organizations specifically concerned with the interaction of patients and physicians in the connected world.

Don’t wait for the Jetsons theme song to start playing. This is more real than you think and it’s actually happening right now. We’ve all heard that age old phrase “knowledge is power” – well that phrase comes into play now more than ever! It’s so important now that patients get equipped with the data and best practices that will help them the most – no more blanket diagnoses that may or may not be relevant. Even better, we are taking advantage of technologies to positively affect lives.

Some smart people are on top of this movement and with their leadership and effective collaborations, I have no doubt that beneficial changes will be seen in the health care world for all of us. The way I see it patient empowerment has a lot in common with the public health world – specifically with health communications where the goal is to equip the public with the information they need to make better choices for their health. Check out this great video from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation giving an overview of the patient empowerment initiative:

One of the great collaborations that I’m excited to see getting kicked off is a new competition with the folks from Ashoka Changemakers and the Amgen Foundation. The initiative kicks off today and invites those movers, shakers and thinkers who are interested in tackling health issues around the globe and elevating the voices of patients. The Patients | Choices | Empowerment competition is seeking solutions that tap the medical experience, knowledge, and wisdom of current and past patients, health care practitioners, advocates and other key stakeholders to ensure that patients have an active role in their personal healthcare. When it comes to our health, it only makes sense that the ideal solutions are those that empower the patient and provide ways for them to make informed decisions.

Onto the good stuff:

The three winners of this competition – the finalist individuals or organizations that receive the most votes online – will each receive a cash prize of USD $10,000. Early entries, received by 5PM EDT on August 25th, will be considered eligible to win one early entry prize of USD $1,000, and will remain eligible to win the competition. Following the competition, selected entries may be invited to submit proposals to the Amgen Foundation for future funding consideration. The Amgen Foundation will consider awarding up to USD $1 million in grants to support promising innovations in patient empowerment submitted by qualifying nonprofit organizations.

I’m really looking forward to looking at the competition entries – I love new ideas and innovation. What better use for those ideas than to make the world a healthier place?

The scourge of HIV/AIDS is no stranger of topic to those working in the public health field whether in the United States or abroad. Conferences and workshops have been put together to determine effective strategies to spread the message of prevention and awareness in order to stop its deadly.

A fantastic global health organization, PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health), created an innovative way to interact with people for HIV prevention by establishing the Magnet Theater in Kenya. These are the kinds of outside the box thinking that I believe will actually make a difference in disease prevention on a wide range of subjects.

Awareness is of course a great element in figuring out what the problem is but behavior change is a different, trickier issue. My friend and colleague Alex Bornkessel points to this fact very well in a recent blog post. PATH and the Magnet Theater are definitely getting people to take action to change their behaviors.

PATH is an international nonprofit organization that creates sustainable, culturally relevant solutions, enabling communities worldwide to break longstanding cycles of poor health. By collaborating with diverse public- and private-sector partners, we help provide appropriate health technologies and vital strategies that change the way people think and act. Our work improves global health and well-being.