The 23rd International AIDS Conference will kick off online Monday, July 6, featuring a full program covering HIV prevention, treatment, and the domestic and global AIDS response. The virtual Global Village will offer free workshops and exhibits for community members worldwide. A free daylong program on COVID-19 will wrap up the conference Friday, July 10.

The conference, put on by the International AIDS Society every other year, was originally scheduled to take place in San Francisco and Oakland, and was expected to draw upward of 20,000 participants. But in March, organizers switched to a virtual format due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

"While we are disappointed not to welcome our HIV community in person to the Bay Area, AIDS 2020: Virtual will equalize access, create new pathways for collaboration, and maintain international impact," conference co-chair Dr. Monica Gandhi of UCSF and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital previously told the Bay Area Reporter.

The virtual format will enable the conference to run sessions around the clock, allowing people in all time zones to watch parts of the meeting live. Recordings of the sessions will then be available on demand.

"I call on people to get together at AIDS 2020: Virtual in greater numbers than ever before and recommit to working together to end the AIDS epidemic," UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said in a news release.