Community representatives welcome delegates to the G'day Networking Zone at AIDS 2014

On July 21, representatives from Australia's peak HIV community organisations welcomed delegates to the AFAO G'day! Welcome To Australia Networking Zone at AIDS 2014.

The zone celebrates and showcases the unique role that community input has played in defining Australia's response to HIV over 30 years, through a jam packed program of speakers, digital art galleries and exciting performances.

Lyle Chan - an AIDS activist's thoughts on music, history, and creativity

Lyle Chan in the early 90s.
Photo: Pattarapa Tsunpruck.
Reproduced from the National
AIDS Bulletin

Today, Lyle Chan is an acclaimed composer whose works have been commissioned and performed by major artists including soprano Taryn Fiebig, pianist Simon Tedeschi, Sydney Philharmonia Choir and the even former Foreign Minister Bob Carr.

But in the early nineties Lyle was a core member of ACT UP and other AIDS organisations. He and fellow activists couriered AIDS treatments from the US that were unavailable in Australia, fiercely lobbying the Australian government to approve experimental treatments more quickly.

Lyle's composition, String Quartet: An AIDS Activist's Memoir, was sketched in the crisis years 1991-1996, but only completed 20 years later.

In the lead up to several performances of the complete work, associated with the AIDS 2014 conference, Lyle spoke to Jill Sergeant, AFAO Project Officer, about the memoir, activism, and the value of music.

Tributes to Vivienne Munro

Vivienne Munro (right) in a 1994/5 ACON poster.

Vivienne Munro was a pioneer of Australia's early HIV response, much loved and admired for her contribution to Australia's community response and support for HIV-positive women. Vivienne passed away in May 2014. 

Below, some of Vivienne's colleagues and friends pay tribute to her life and work.

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.