HIV/AIDS
Highlights from The XVI International AIDS Conference
by Patty Puline, Contributing Journalist
(TORONTO)—What a time we had! Twenty-five thousand people attended this AIDS conference, a record shattering number. And, there's nothing like being a member of 3000 dedicated journalists covering one topic - AIDS.
Just the sheer fact that we were all reporting on one subject for seven days was huge.
My own project, "Red Wagons, Red Flags" was met with admiration, and individual discussions on how to replicate it in their own hometowns. Our work has been introduced to India, South Africa, Mexico, Germany, Serbia, Iran and Italy. I was able to make individual contacts with each of these government agencies, exchanging business cards and hoping to work together.
Dr. Reza Nassiri, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, had keen scientific insights into the conference. His work within the framework of science, pharmacy and virology will be published soon. His focus was on the incidence and the virulence of HIV among women, and he appeared on International TV.
Daily poster presentations, abstracts, conference program activities and workshops screamed at the multitudes "Here, I am AIDS," and rightfully so. It was difficult to attend just one program, because you wanted to see and hear everything. Some of the larger workshops had overflow rooms, and I ended up in one of those while listening to Dr. Anthony Fauci, International AIDS scientist, speak about AIDS vaccines, microbicide gels and the new integrase inhibitors.
The science of AIDS has changed, and some of "what's old is new again" gave way to circuitous approaches in prevention as well. Focus on outreach to prostitutes was met with overwhelming success, which in Erie, is a reinvention of our original STOP _ Street Outreach Prevention Project.
We introduced the concept of outreach to commercial sex workers, and so I was able to relate this to other countries. I learned about new approaches for prevention in India for rag pickers and rickshaw drivers, that's right, rickshaws. Cool, eh? Sort of reminds me of my outreach to truck drivers at truck stops, and, I learned from African health educators, that they are mirroring that in Uganda.
HIV prevention came alive in the Global Village, where giant puppets danced on the floor, and men dressed up like giant condoms allowed for one on one education. The street theater programs were entertaining and educational for everyone. Teens had their own voice through the Youth Conference, and their peer education programs, such as Peer Serbia, are paralleled in Erie by our affiliation with "Teen AIDS Peer Corps" Dr. Chittick, www.teenaids.org
Yours truly met Richard Gere, Bill Clinton, Bill and Melinda Gates, Rick Warren, Alicia Keyes and Laxmi Tripathi.
Laxmi is a tall, handsomely beautiful Hijra from India, who captivated the attention of conference attendees with her words, dress, makeup and attitude. He is typical of the thousands of men and women from across the globe who "strutted their stuff" pertaining to AIDS education and prevention methods. www.aids2006.org
By far, my most interesting discussion was with Laxmi who shimmered every day with her colorful makeup and long sari dresses of vibrant oranges and greens. She is a hijra _ men who dress and act like women from India who preserve a third gender role through tradition.
Hijras do not try to pass for female, such as transsexuals might. They are neither male nor female, but a third gender, ensconced in tradition in India for years, and often defined as eunuchs.
This is a picture of Laxmi Tripathi, a eunuch from Mumbai, and an AIDS activist, spreading awareness about AIDS. I met her at the conference, and spoke with her at length about the Dai Welfare Society, which she co-founded with her friend, Shabina Frances.
Laxmi works with the Mumbai District AIDS Control Society coordinating HIV prevention and AIDS awareness projects on the streets. Her work has been empowering for herself, and 70 members, all Hijras, to try to change the Constitution to include the word "transgender" and to fight for equal rights. The Dai Welfare Society attempts to end discriminatory practices such as social and economic stigma.
Another highlight of the conference was the powerful speeches of President Bill Clinton, and Bill and Melinda Gates. I met and interviewed Bill Clinton personally.
"Former President Bill Clinton leaped to the defense of the Bush administration's AIDS efforts on Tuesday, saying the United States is spending more to fight HIV than any other government." _ NY Times, August 15, 2006
Amazing as it sounds, I listened to Bill Clinton sing the praises of Dub-ya and his PEPFAR program. He chastised others when they said he could have done more for AIDS during his presidential administration, stating" I made a few mistakes during my presidency, but that wasn't one of them." Guffaws were heard throughout the audience, and that tell-tale smile of his, like a chagrin cat, told us that he still had a sense of humor. Then, as the mood changed, men stood up to protest the shortage of nurses, and you could see his face change, and see that he took AIDS seriously, and has joined the fight now to punctuate his point.
"Clinton, whose foundation negotiates cheaper prices for drugs and HIV tests in developing nations, said PEPFAR has done a lot of good, despite a requirement that 33 percent of prevention funding be spent on abstinence-only programs." NY Times, August 15, 2006
Rhetoric at the conference surrounded the lack of nurses, funding streams being cut for essential services, and the quizzical abstract of "abstinence only." Both Bills denounced while simultaneously praising abstinence only programs for providing "more good than harm." While waiting for condoms, people are dying of AIDS, the power must be put back in the hands of women, this was a comment by Bill Gates, and echoed throughout the rest of the conference.
Again, thank you for allowing this reporter to attend the International AIDS Conference on behalf of Erie Gay News. Hope to see some of you in Mexico City for the next one in 2008!
