People living with HIV are … celebrating their diversity in the Global Village at AIDS 2014

Suzette Moses-Burton, Executive Director at the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), invites you to participate.

GNP+ is hosting the people living with HIV (PLHIV) Networking Zone at the AIDS 2014 Global Village, which will be home of the “People living with HIV are…” campaign. This campaign celebrates the diversity of people living with HIV.

We will be asking people to complete the sentence with a word or phrase of their choice. For example, “People living with HIV are … brilliant, campaigning for our rights, mums, doctors, decision makers, not criminals …” The possibilities are endless!

Whether you are living with HIV or know someone who is, we are calling on everyone at the conference, and members of the public passing through the Global Village, to stop by the PLHIV Networking Zone, and add their statement to the campaign, whether it is light-hearted or carries a serious message.

Under the Baobab Tree: African Diaspora Networking Zone #AIDS2014

Also known as 'The Tree of Life', the Baobab tree is found in 32 countries across Africa as well as in Australia and is an enduring symbol of positivity and growth, thriving in conditions where little can survive.

The African diaspora is even more widespread, as people of recent and remote African descent have settled in every region of the globe to create vibrant communities in the face of individual and collective challenges – including HIV/AIDS, which disproportionately affects Black and African diaspora populations.

This year’s African networking zone is being organised by the Multicultural Health and Support Service (MHSS) in collaboration with the African Black Diaspora Global Networkon HIV/AIDS (ABDGN) and AFAO’s African Reference Group.

To find out more about the zone, AFAO spoke to the ABDGN’s Kwaku Adomako.

The Indigenous presence at AIDS 2014

In the lead up to the international HIV/AIDS conference in Melbourne in July (AIDS 2014) AFAO is running a series of posts highlighting activities related to the conference and exploring some of the issues that will be discussed there.

Kicking off our series, Michael Costello-Czok, Executive Officer of the Anwernekenhe National HIV Alliance (ANA), spoke to AFAO about how Indigenous people from HIV organisations around the world will be spending their time in Australia this July.

Welcome to James and Chris

Chris (left) and James (right) kick back with Vaness Silpakhan,
Admin Assistant at AFAO's Bangkok office.

AFAO International Program is pleased to welcome two new members to our team in the Bangkok Office - James Malar and Chris Ward.

Both James and Chris started with the program in early April, and have been working closely with the AFAO programs and partners.

How do rising health care costs affect you?

"Reason for delay in accessing healthcare" -
Source: CHF's Health Cost Survey data 

With the cost of health care set to be a central issue in the upcoming federal budget, Federal Minister for Health, the Hon Peter Dutton, has called for national debate on making our health system more sustainable.

A Senate committee has been tasked with investigating the cost of out-of-pocket expenses for consumers of health care in Australia. The Consumer Health Forum (CHF) is urging consumers of health services to play a central role in this discussion.

What's faith got to do with it?

Lina Ayoubi, from the Islamic Council of Victoria, was one of the
speakers at a recent Melbourne forum for religious leaders.
Photo: Dan Walls, courtesy of the Multicultural Health
and Support Service (MHSS).  

For people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, quite a lot.

Hand in Hand, a forum on HIV for religious leaders in Melbourne on 11 March heard that for many people with HIV from CALD communities, spiritual faith is central to their lives, but the stigma associated with HIV, and silence from church, mosque and temple, can lead to isolation and distress.  

Speakers representing several peak religious bodies in Victoria expressed concern about this isolation and stigmatisation, and discussed how the core principles of their faiths could – and should – inform both care and support for people with HIV, and community-based HIV prevention and awareness programs.

Over forty people attended the forum, which addressed the role of spiritual and community leaders in preventing HIV transmission in migrant and refugee communities. Hand in Hand was organised by the Multicultural Health and Support Service (MHSS), a program of the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health in Victoria. It was the third in a series of cross-sectoral Multicultural Sexual Health Network (MHSN) forums on BBV/STI prevention issues for CALD communities.

Are Young Gay Men really so different?

On Thursday 20^th February AFAO hosted an after hours session at the Social Research Conference on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Related Diseases. Chaired by AFAO’s Sally Cameron, the session provided a venue for the consideration of the specific HIV health promotion needs of young gay men.