Support Don’t Punish Day of Action

There was resounding agreement that the 'War on Drugs' has failed at the AIVL/NUAA day of action celebrating the global movement Support Don’t Punish. 

L to R: Leah McLeod - NUAA, Peter Baume AC, Nicholas Stewart - Dowson Turco, Jude Byrne - AIVL, Will Tregoning - Unharm

Held at NSW Parliament on 26 June, the impressive range of speakers included ex federal Senator Peter Baume – renowned for the key role he played in fostering a constructive political response to HIV in the late 1980s, Jude Byrne from the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL), Nicholas Stewart, a private legal practitioner and volunteer lawyer at Sydney’s Inner-City Legal Centre, and Will Tregoning from Unharm – a drug law reform advocacy organisation.

HIV and lung cancer: smoking is a greater risk than HIV (CROI 2015 Day 3)

AFAO Health Promotion Officer, Sean Slavin, blogs live from CROI 2015:
 
In a session today at ‪#‎CROI2015‬ on cancer and HIV, lung cancer was highlighted as one of the most prevalent among people with HIV.

PrEP and women: low adherance highlights stigma and gender inequality (CROI 2015 Day 2)

AFAO Health Promotion Officer, Sean Slavin, blogs live from CROI 2015:

One of the most interesting papers at ‪#‎CROI2015‬ today was about the failure of Tenofovir gel as PrEP for women in the South African FACTS 001 trial. This study, among young, poor women showed that adherence is indeed a challenge and not necessarily because of any failure of the participants.

What AFAO did in 2014

Check out our photo story on AFAO's activities in 2014.

January

We’re in Australia. It was what’s known as the silly season. We went to the beach.

Ok, ok, we were working too, but nothing worth photographing.

Blog Action Day: Inequality and HIV

Indraveer Chatterjee

The global HIV epidemic is characterised by inequality. To name just two dimensions of this: gender inequality fuels the spread of HIV; and unequal access to treatment results in unnecessarily high rates of illness and death in many countries. 

To mark the Blog Action Day theme of inequality this year, we invited Indraveer Chatterjee, Principal Solicitor at the HIV/AIDS Legal Centre (HALC) to write about how inequality within the epidemic is entrenched by a lack of support for human rights.

This article is based on a presentation Indraveer gave at an AIDS 2014 feedback session at ACON in September.

HIV and Mobile Populations: exploring the complexities

A montage that captures the HIV and mobility issues.

It's been clear for some time that the HIV epidemic in Western Australia is different to that in the rest of Australia, with heterosexuals and people from high prevalence countries accounting for a higher proportion of new diagnoses (around 50%) than in other states and territories where the majority of diagnoses (67%) are among gay men.

Research and advocacy on the issue has been bubbling along for a while now, and in July, capitalising on the momentum of the AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne, key players in WA's HIV response hosted a one day seminar on 29 July - HIV and Mobile Populations - to explore the complexities of the local epidemic and exchange information and ideas about the way forward.

Blog Action Day: Human rights, HIV, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Blog Action Day is an annual day of action for bloggers around the world to post stories about an important social or environmental issue. This year the topic is human rights; an issue that is inextricably linked to HIV.

AFAO decided to participate in Blog Action Day for the first time by interviewing James Ward, an Indigenous health researcher with more than 15 years’ experience in sexual health and HIV. He is a descendent of the Pitjantjatjara and Nurrunga clans of central and South Australia.

The Office of theUnited Nations High Commissioner for human rights states that:

"Human rights are inextricably linked with the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS on individuals and communities around the world. A lack of respect for human rights fuels the spread and exacerbates the impact of the disease, while at the same time HIV/AIDS undermines progress in the realisation of human rights."

How would you say that this connection plays out for Indigenous people generally, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in particular?

It’s an important point linking human rights to HIV vulnerability and it’s often off the agenda.

Many Indigenous people struggle with basic human rights, including the lack of recognition in their own countries. Others have problems with recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights – basic human rights, including the right to be taught traditional language and practice customs and culture.

MACBBVS reports to stakeholders

The Ministerial Advisory Committee on Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections (MACBBVS) has released a report from its meeting in Canberra on 2 August. MACBBVS is the Australian Government's key advisory body on the national HIV response.

Matters discussed included the update of the National Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections (BBV and STI) Strategies, viral hepatitis and liver cancer, the International AIDS Society Conference 2014, and the proposed National Health and Physical Education Curriculum.

Download the report

Reflections about Anthony Smith

Many people have been saddened by the recent death of our colleague and friend, Professor Anthony Smith. Anthony was widely known both in Australia and internationally for his work as an outstanding researcher, and also for his passion as an HIV activist
spanning some 25 years.

Dino Hodge and Terry McClafferty were colleagues of Anthony Smith during his time on the Northern Territory AIDS Council (NTAC) Board during the late 1980 and early 1990s.  Here they reflect on Anthony's life, and the lasting contributions he has made to Australia's response to HIV.

Dino Hodge was on the board of NTAC between 1989-1992. As a fellow Board Member, including in his capacity as a member of The NTAC Council Law and Policy Working Group, he worked closely alongside Anthony Smith.  Dino recalls: