FOREPLAY - The final push towards three zeros

A series of community events was held across two days in the lead up to ICAAP11, to allow community delegates to come together and network, and to be discuss key issues related to HIV and key populations in Asia and the Pacific.

The first of these events was FOREPLAY, a one day community pre-conference hosted by APCOM on 17 November.

What's the next step for HIV testing services?

After moving at glacial pace for years, HIV rapid testing is now being ‘rolled out’ in different forms around the country. Although this will make testing more accessible and convenient, there has not been much attention paid to the experience of the users of testing services, and how services might change their models and their design to enhance the user experience.

To help explore this question, AFAO teamed up with Sydney and South Western Sydney Local Health District to commission a research project using innovative methods that focused on the ‘user’. 

New publication puts focus on HIV in Asia and the Pacific

18 November 2013, Bangkok, Thailand - On the eve of this year's International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP11) - the largest HIV conference in the region -  two leading community HIV organisations, the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) and the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM) , have released a special edition of AFAO's flagship publication, HIV Australia, discussing HIV in Asia and the Pacific.

The special edition aims to create discussion around the significant human rights, HIV and funding gap issues for men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people. These issues include:

• Across the Asia Pacific region, rates of new infection have decreased among the general population but continue to grow among MSM and transgender populations.
• Young MSM are at particular risk. One study from Bangkok showed that over a 5-year period, 30% of the young men involved in the study became infected with HIV.
• Globally, transgender women are up to 48 times more likely to have HIV than other adults in the same population. Rates of HIV among transgender groups were: 43% in India, 26% in Indonesia and 12.5% in Thailand.

UNAIDS leadership forum at ICAAP – achieving zero new infections, zero AIDS deaths and zero discrimination in Asia and the Pacific

Panel at the UNAIDS Leadership Forum.

In the lead up to the 11th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP11) -  the largest HIV conference in the region - The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS are hosting a two-day Leadership Forum entitled "Asia Pacific Getting to Three Zeros"  to discuss achieving zero new infections, zero AIDS deaths, and zero discrimination in the region.

The two day forum, held 18-19 November in Bangkok, is one of many events happening during the ICAAP conference that is putting the international spotlight on responses to HIV in Asia and the Pacific. Around one hundred senior government officials, policy makers and civil society leaders were in attendance on the first day of the forum.

Rapid test not always so rapid...from consumer's perspective

An interesting presentation by Stephen Davies from North Shore Sexual Health Service (Sydney) at the recent Australasian HIV & AIDS Conference showed that gay men preferred receiving HIV test results from a conventional blood test the following business day over a rapid point-of-care test.

Since December 2012, NSSHS has offered the option of receiving conventional HIV test results (if negative) by SMS on the following business day after their test. Gay men were able to choose between: 1) having a point-of-care test; 2) receiving their results by phone 5 to 7 days later; or 3) receiving results by SMS.

Overall, 94% of those who opted for SMS results were satisfied with this method. Of the 48 men who had previously had a point-of-care test, 35 elected a result by SMS. Feedback via clinicians indicated that men perceived conventional pathology as more reliable than rapid testing. A longer visit time also undermined the popularity of the rapid point-of-care test.

View abstract

AFAO Advocacy Hub: the Asia Pacific HIV response

L-R: Janelle Fawkes, Chris Connelly, Omar Syarif, and
Ele Morrison. 

Each day at the Australasian HIV/AIDS conference in Darwin, AFAO is hosting a Community and Advocacy Hub. Hub activities include a mini-film festival, panel discussions and open mic sessions.

Today at the AFAO Hub, there was a wide-ranging discussion from AIVL, APN+, AFAO and Scarlet Alliance about the need for longer term funding to sustain community based responses in Asia and the Pacific.

Omar Syarif from APN+ highlighted need to scale up access to treatment, address legal barriers, and trade agreements.

Ele Morrison from AIVL talked about need to support drug users to advocate for themselves.

Janelle Fawkes from Scarlet Alliance highlighted the need to fund over long term the development of viable sex worker organisations.

Chris Connelly from AFAO's international program, discussed how AFAO has supported the development of MSM and TG community based organisations, with Kapul Champions in PNG being the most recent successful example.

Rob Lake, AFAO Executive Director, commented that Australia has a great interest in ensuring that international trade agreements, including the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, do not create barriers to accessing life saving treatments across the region.

More info about the Hub

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.