US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Monday that the International AIDS Society will host its 2012 conference in Washington, as the Obama administration lifts a decades-old ban on HIV-positive visitors.

"I'm pleased to announce that, with the repeal of the ban, the International AIDS Society will hold the 2012 international AIDS conference in Washington DC," Clinton said on the eve of World AIDS day.

"This conference will draw together 30,000 researchers, scientists, policy makers, health care providers, activists and others from around the world," Clinton said at the White House.

"So, as we look to 2012, we had to continue to seek a global solution to this global problem," the chief US diplomat said.

In July, the South African city of Capetown hosted the 2009 conference. Vienna is due to host the conference in 2010 and Rome in 2011.

President Barack Obama announced at the end of October that his administration would overturn a controversial US policy that had been in place since 1987.

The ban on foreign nationals with HIV/AIDS visiting the United States will effectively be lifted early next year.