A Consultation on partner notification for preventing HIV infection was convened by the World Health Organization's Global Programme on AIDS (GPA) and Sexually Transmitted Disease Programme (VDT) from 11–13 January 1989 in Geneva. A total of 27 participants from 20 countries attended the Consultation, including experts in public health, law, epidemiology, biomédical and social science aspects of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STD).