The Monitoring the AIDS Pandemic (MAP) Network, a worldwide network to monitor the status and trends of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic and internationally disseminate the findings, was recently launched by the AIDS Control and Prevention (AIDSCAP) Project of Family Health International, the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights of the School of Public Health, and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

A collegial network that has been formed to collect and share information internationally, MAP embodies the expanding response to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic and the cooperation between AIDSCAP, Harvard's Bagnoud Center, and UNAIDS.

Comprised of 75 members from institutions and countries around the world, the MAP Network will: collect and analyze information on the status and trend of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic; identify the information needs for improved monitoring and forecasting of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic and actively promote the filling of those needs; monitor the effects of prevention, care and social interventions on the regional epidemics and their impact; develop and disseminate regional and global consensus reports on the above; and, convene workshops and/or produce occasional reports on specific issues which explore the forefront of knowledge and improve our understanding of the global situation.

An Interim Steering Committee, initially chaired by Daniel Tarantola of the Bagnoud Center will direct the MAP Network.