It is the policy of the International AIDS Society–USA (IAS–USA) to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all its educational activities. All parties with control over the content of IAS–USA activities (eg, members of the Board of Directors, activity chairs, authors, faculty, and IAS–USA staff) are required to disclose to the organization and activity audience any financial interest or other relationship with the manufacturer(s) of any commercial product(s) or provider(s) of commercial services with interests discussed in the activity (eg, presentation, article, etc) within the last 12 months. Financial interest or other relationship can include grants or research support, employee, consultant, stock (or options) holder, paid lecturer, paid writer/author, member of speakers’ bureau, of the party, or of his or her spouse or partner. The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) defines a financial interest as an interest of any dollar amount.

IAS–USA policy requires that the IAS–USA resolve any identified conflict of interest that may influence the development, content, or delivery of its educational activity prior to the activity being delivered to learners. The IAS–USA has several mechanisms for resolving conflicts of interest in educational activities. If the conflict of interest cannot be resolved through these mechanisms, the party will be removed from the activity.

It is the policy of the IAS–USA to publish the financial interests of all parties in control over the content of IAS–USA activities on activity materials or, in cases where space is limited (eg, reprints of figures), on the IAS–USA Website through a Web address printed on the activity material. This information will also be provided directly by the IAS–USA office upon request.

IAS–USA policy requires that the date of the disclosure to be documented along with financial conflict information. As stated above, the information published will reflect financial conflicts incurred within the last 12 months. It should be understood that other organizations may have different policies with regard to financial conflicts and with regard to the time period covered in the disclosure of financial conflicts.

In collaborative projects (eg, publication of materials in medical literature), it is the policy of the IAS–USA to adhere to the disclosure and conflicts of interest policies of the respective organization.