International AIDS Conference 2010 – Hope and Promises

The buzz in the HIV/AIDS community these days is all about the International AIDS Conference. I attended one of the conferences in 2002. It was a whirlwind of activity and I wish I had been better prepared for the magnitude of the event. After the first day of just bouncing around aimlessly I made the point of sitting down every evening with the conference guide to choose what I would do the next day. I reviewed my plans over breakfast and then headed out the door. For a week I was immersed in the international HIV/AIDS community. I engaged in dialogue with people from around the world; my room mate was from Israel and she opened my eyes to challenges I had never thought about before. We were staying in a university dormitory with a few hundred other conference attendees. It was very exciting with conversations going well into the night.

This year the conference is in Vienna, Austria and there is a significance about this particular year – 2010 is the year all those great and powerful (read: wealthy) nations had set for universal access to treatment. Now we all know there is not universal access to treatment around the globe. We do not even have that here in Canada. Promises and platitudes. As much as I dislike focusing on the broken promises and empty platitudes I cannot help but see the fall-out from this lack of action. It can be heartbreaking at times.

Rather than amping up resources and support for HIV+ individuals they are actually  diminishing at an alarming rate. This past year major players have shifted their focus towards malaria and tuberculosis initiatives instead of HIV education, prevention and treatment. It’s all important. A life saved is always important. People need resources to combat malaria and tuberculosis. But why is it a matter of this over that? Why pull back on HIV/AIDS now? This is not the time to remove support from people living with HIV. The fight is not over. Not by a long shot.

Last December the International Community of Women Living with HIV closed down. It was an international network for HIV+ women and I visited the website regularly to keep informed and to hear from women around the world. I found it to be a valuable resource and a great tool to build community. Things are also shutting down closer to home. On June, 21, 2010 Voices of Positive Women in Toronto closed it’s doors. It makes me weep. It shakes me quite deeply. I rail against the powers that deem the closure of a support agency for HIV+ women to be a good decision. It is not a good decision and I fear it may be the shape of things to come. 

Despite the fear and deep disappointment I choose to look at our successes. Here in BC there is a resurgence of peer counselling and I’m witnessing a shift in how we advocate for one another. I’m seeing a return to one-to-one support. We’ve always been a resourceful bunch of individuals, especially at Positive Women’s Network. We continue to overcome obstacle after obstacle. I don’t see how a lack of financial resources will stop us from caring for one another. We are in this till the end. I close with this quote from an anonymous author because I love the image it conjures up: “Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘WOW What a Ride!”  Indeed. Hold on tight.

-Monique

Note: To watch live webcasts throughout the International AIDS Conference (July 18-23), visit Kaiser Family Foundation.

This was posted on Friday, July 16th, 2010 at 10:00 am and is filed under Daily Moments, News, Special Events . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.

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