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1 November 2001 by Cristina Estrada in Trinidad Embracing the theme Celebrating our lives, more than 600 people have gathered for the 10th International Conference of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), being held this week in Trinidad. The aim of this conference is "to provide a safe environment where people living with HIV/AIDS can share experiences, empower and train themselves to better defeat the epidemic in their own bodies, lives and communities." "A successful strategy to fight HIV/AIDS involves many things," said Joanna Macclean, one of the Red Cross representatives at the conference. "Prevention, access to care and treatment are important, but so is fighting the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS. We can only be successful in our fight against the epidemic if we involve people living with HIV/AIDS in all stages", she said. This is the first time the International Federation is formally participating in a conference of this type. It is also the first concrete example of a partnership established by the International Federation and the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+), who are helping to organise this conference. Representatives from different networks of PLWHA from all over the world are participating in the Trinidad meeting. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement formally established collaboration with the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) in June of this year, during the first ever United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS – marking their shared concern over, and their shared fight against, the discrimination suffered by people living with HIV/AIDS. "People living with HIV/AIDS are not the problem, but part of the solution." said Yolanda Simon, Coordinator of the Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (CRN+). "It is widely recognised that no effective strategy for prevention should exclude people living with HIV/AIDS, yet, it is difficult and often dangerous for PLWHA to be open about their status", she added. In order for PLWHA to contribute to the response, we must break all forms of stigma and discrimination. Denial goes hand in hand with discrimination, with many people continuing to deny that HIV exists in their communities. Social taboos about sexuality may prevent open discussion and effective education about prevention. Many people do not know they are HIV-positive and are afraid to be tested because of the stigma attached to those who are known to be positive. "I have a complex and delicate prevention task, which I carry out with all the love I can….. her name is Kristal Acevedo, my 10 year-old daughter, who's not infected with HIV, but is affected by HIV," said Ramon Acevedo, a Red Cross volunteer, was diagnosed HIV-positive nearly 6 years ago. He's a clear example of a PLWHA who takes advantage of his status to help others. "The Red Cross has provided me with the support and the privacy and confidentiality needed to create well functioning support groups for PLWHA", he adds. "We should take advantage of the door the Red Cross has opened for us to eliminate the virus of discrimination". This is the first time a conference of this kind is taking place in the Caribbean region, which, with more than 390,000 people infected (according to UNAIDS), has the world's second highest prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS, just after Sub-Saharan Africa. The epidemic's primary mode of transmission is shifting and is now mainly affecting heterosexuals - in particular young females - with high rates of mother-to-child transmission. Children suffer either because they become HIV positive themselves, or because they have to learn to live without one – if not both – their parents. They bear the burden of growing up as orphans as well as with the responsibility of sometimes having to be in charge of their own brothers and sisters. The changing profile of the epidemic in the region has turned it into a developmental threat and is no longer considered solely as a health issue. |
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