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.

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For women with HIV who are contemplating pregnancy, thankfully there’s great care and support here in BC. With medical care and HIV treatment, the likelihood of having a baby with HIV is less than 1%. Dr. Jack Forbes of Oak Tree Clinic reported at the recent CAHR conference on perinatal infection rates in Canada between 1997 and 2009, and for women who took the full recommended treatment during pregnancy, the transmission rate was0.7%. 

Positive women are having multiple healthy children and enjoying the joys and challenges of parenting. But being an HIV+ mom and dealing with questions from people who might not know about HIV can be stressful. Questions around breastfeeding alone can be tricky for women who haven’t disclosed to everyone in their community and wish to maintain their confidentiality.

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What creates “community"? This is a question that was on my mind the other night at AccolAIDS, as I sat surrounded by warmth of spirit, laughter and fantastic people at BC Persons with AIDS Society’s fundraising event. I was so happy for the people who were nominated for their work, and tickled that some true friends got to take the stage and speak about what they do with amazing dedication. What I saw in that room was a mix of PWAs, health care providers, pharmaceutical reps, donors, and other community folks who are both paid staff and volunteers. This mix of people and passions creates supportive, kind, educational nets that the weary can fall into when necessary. Nets that provide firm enough footing to take another step. Nets that provide a wall to back up against when you need a vantage point for perspective.

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Next week is Prevention of Violence Against Women Week (April 19th to 26th, 2010), so naturally we at Positive Women’s Network decided to blog about it.  The rates of violence against women in BC and Canada are discouraging to say the least.  For some of these statistics, visit The Violence Stops Here.  I’ve been surfing the web looking for events and activities around the province and I want to highlight a few.  Of course, this is just a snippet of what’s going on, but it’s encouraging to see so many groups organizing and hosting amazing initiatives to raise awareness and get people mobilized against gendered violence.

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The days are getting longer (we did just “spring ahead” after all), the sun shines now and again, and my hay fever is driving me crazy … yes, it must be Spring. At Positive Women’s Network, that means SpringBoard! Join us for our annual conference, on Thursday April 22nd, from 4:00pm onward, at the Century Plaza Hotel (1015 Burrard St) in Vancouver.

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 “What do you want to be remembered for?”
“Kindness.”

So answered wacky, over the top comedienne Phyllis Diller to interviewer Jian Ghomeshi earlier this week on CBC radio. I came in late on the broadcast, but I caught that gem at the end, simply and gently stated.

I first saw Phyllis Diller when I was a kid- her wild hair, long cigarette holder, and her raucous laughter that was often at herself. That vivid persona has stuck with me. When I heard her say she wants to be remembered for kindness, it was a lovely comment on what matters.

BC Persons with AIDS Society’s upcoming AccolAIDS is more than a comment on what matters, it’s an awards evening that honours volunteers, paid staff, visionaries, activists and consistent supportive voices who work on behalf of people living with HIV.

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Hello Everyone!

My name is Jessica Wadsworth and I am very pleased to join the team here at Positive Women’s Network. My official title is Casual Resource Coordinator, which means that I’ll be working intermittently at the PWN office, assisting with social media communications, writing for PWN’s quarterly publications and finding ways to get all of the wonderful resources available here out to all of you. I’m really looking forward to getting to know all of you – or your avatars as the case may be.

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After a day of listening to updates on HIV related disease and treatments, the word I kept writing down was inflammation. It’s not a word that applies only to the physical aspects of HIV, but the social aspects too. On a torrential Monday in November, I attended the BC Centre For Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BCCfE)’s treatment update, and this one featured speakers representing the International AIDS Society. It was a real gift to hear these folks from around the globe and note similarities and differences in the work we all do to support people living with HIV.

HIV disease is one of inflammation. Once it enters the bloodstream HIV attacks the gut, decimating protective CD4 cells and degrading the gut’s protective mucosa. The immune system fires up in response. A revved up CD4 response means more targets for HIV to attack, and the image of a body on fire wouldn’t be out of line. Specific topical inflammations can increase the risk of HIV transmission. Thankfully, HIV treatments act on HIV at different stages in its replication process, keeping HIV virus under control and allowing the immune system to rebuild. This attack/rebuild dance can continue for years and people can enjoy health they mightn’t have imagined before 1996, when HAART became the norm. 

If only it were that way for the social inflammation created by the mere idea of HIV. Not that I needed reminding, but Monday’s presenters pointed out that stigma, discrimination, racism, heterosexism and denial of any problem are ongoing hallmarks of HIV in countries the world over. On top of the issues noted above, women and girls bear the realities that sexism, intimate partner violence, unequal economic opportunities, childbearing and child rearing bring. HIV makes the burden even heavier. I thought of the late Jonathan Mann when Dr. Chris Beyrer echoed something Dr. Mann said in the early 90’s: for women in some cultures, marriage is a significant risk factor for HIV infection.

Moral judgments on harm reduction strategies as a means to reduce infection are of no use to anyone. “Now is not the time to limit use of any intervention with proven efficacy.” Beyrer was speaking of the infection rates in Russia, where rates in the IDU population is close to 50%, but I also thought about the struggle of Insite’s harm reduction work here at home.

HIV inflames the body and the cultures in which exists. It reveals biases that may have otherwise gone unremarked or more easily ignored. But now highlighted, we must continue to fight the virus and the ugliness it can create. What an energizing forum it was – a conference full of fighters from all over the world.

- Janet

This blog represents the ideas of individual writers, and does not necessarily reflect any formal stance taken by Positive Women’s Network.

Last week’s retreat was another huge success and many women came away connected and recharged, according to the evaluations. Retreats are unlike any other thing we offer. They are a whole weekend of symbolic unpacking by a variety of women with a range of life experiences (one attendee commented on the diversity of women and how well everyone got along). Women unpack their sadness of being diagnosed and feeling they can never look at life with hope again. Women can unpack their worries about going on treatment and how it might affect their bodies. Women unpack their long-term experiences with HIV, how they have made changes and stayed healthy. Women unpack their vulnerabilities and their successes, and share them.

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Executive Director Marcie Summers is at the North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit this week in Washington DC. It’s sponsored by the National AIDS Housing Coalition, an American organization whose mission is to “Advance creation and growth of housing for people living with HIV….” It’s fantastic that there can be a whole organization focussing on housing and that they share the wealth of their knowledge. Activists from all over the continent are in DC to talk about social determinants of health, of which housing security is a huge one. Having a safe, assured, affordable place to live is such an important part of health, as the folks at the National AIDS Housing Coalition will attest. Canadian voices from the Positive Spaces Healthy Places research project will chime in.

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