The 1st Singapore AIDS conference was held on 12 December 1998 at the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the landmark event was organised by Action for AIDS (AfA) to coincide with its 10th anniversary, and the Communicable Disease Centre/Tan Tock Seng Hospital. The Singapore AIDS Conferences were to become biannual meetings targeted at individuals and organisations involved in AIDS prevention and education, and those providing support, welfare and care activities. They would serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas, sharing of research findings and experiences, and an opportunity to update knowledge and skills. The inaugural conference was opened by the Minister of Health, Mr Yeo Cheow Tong and attended by over 400 delegates. The theme of the first conference was “Facing the Challenge in Singapore”.
In all, there were 4 plenary sessions and 29 seminar presentations. The keynote speaker was Prof Werasit Sittitrai, from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) who addressed the topic “Safeguarding Young People for the Next Generation”. Read a summary of the seminars: and the script of 1 of the plenary lectures by Alan John, a news editor of the Straits Times:
One of the highlights of the conference which attracted great media attention was the revelation by Paddy Chew of his HIV-positive status to the general public, the first time in Singapore that a person with AIDS (PWA) had revealed his identity and allowed himself to be photographed. Read the script of Chew's lecture:
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