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12 October 2001 By Rohan Kay in Melbourne Red Cross delegates from the Asia-Pacific region have urged their National Societies to make HIV/AIDS a priority and form partnerships with those living with HIV/AIDS. Delegates from Cambodia, China, the Cook Islands, Fiji, India, Laos, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Vietnam all pledged to step up their societies' efforts to stop the rise in HIV infection rates and alleviate the social stigma that accompanies it. The commitment was announced on the last day of the sixth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) in Melbourne, Australia, in which 3000 participants discussed issues like the socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS and the cultural and religious barriers to HIV/AIDS prevention. In a key statement in the week-long biennial conference, UNAIDS chief Peter Piot said that the Asia-Pacific region was showing the steepest rates of HIV infection by country in the world. There are now an estimated 7 million people living with HIV in Asia-Pacific. "If marginalisation and discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS is not controlled, HIV/AIDS will not be controlled," said Indra Prasad, the programme coordinator of the Nepal Red Cross HIV/AIDS prevention and reproductive health programme. "We can gain so much from working with people living with HIV/AIDS," she added. "They are a source of information and insight, and they would make a huge difference to our HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention and care work. People living with HIV/AIDS must be our partners." Dr. Stefan Seebacher, head of the International Federation's Regional Health Unit for South-East and East Asia, said: "If we do not recognise people with HIV/AIDS as equal partners, then our programmes will make less inroads in the fight against HIV/AIDS. If we do not fight HIV/AIDS discrimination, we will not fulfil our mission to mobilize the power of humanity to help the most vulnerable." Red Cross delegates, especially those who share national borders, also pledged to work closer together to tackle social, economic and health issues surrounding HIV/AIDS and its prevention in the region. One story of successful cross-border collaboration heard at the Melbourne conference came from Cambodia, where the Cambodian Red Cross has worked with the neighbouring Thai Red Cross to establish peer group education programmes in life-skills for policemen, soldiers and university students. The curriculum for the programme was provided by the Thai Red Cross through the Asian Red Cross and Red Crescent Task Force on AIDS - a network of 13 National Societies which promote HIV/AIDS activities at the grassroots level. "Cambodian Red Cross leaders embraced this programme because they understood that HIV/AIDS could destroy Cambodian society," said Va Sopheak, who manages the Cambodian Red Cross HIV/AIDS peer education programme. |
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