After Medical Gains in HIV, Time to Cure Social Inequities
By Johanna Son
BALI, Aug 11 (TerraViva) – One can take anti-retroviral therapy to cope with HIV. But how does one cure the deeply rooted social inequities that leave groups like men who have sex with men and drug users, as well as women, out of the reach of efforts to address the pandemic?
This question, at the core of discussions at Tuesday’s plenary session at the 9th International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) here, points to what many say is the next big step in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Read more…
Media Missing the HIV/AIDS Story
Journalism professor Cullen
By Lynette Lee Corporal
BALI, Aug 11 (TerraViva/IPS) – If the media are indeed the message, then the scant presence of mainstream media at the 9th International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) also sends a message – a disappointing one, say some journalists and development analysts at Asia’s largest meeting on the pandemic. Read more…
Heard & Overheard: Lawsuits, Media War Room and A Fan Club
Brief applause ran through Tuesday’s plenary session after Dr Michael Tan of the Philippines listed a set of steps he believes can help address the inequities that fuel HIV and AIDS today.
Q&A: ‘The Chinese Gov’t is Taking Action’
Chau
As a presenter for CCTV-9, China Central Television’s English channel, James Chau is quite used to being the one behind the microphone and firing off the questions. But his role is reversed at ICAAP9 in Bali, which he is attending as UNAIDS goodwill ambassador for China. Here, the 32-year-old Chau, who was born in Britain but has lived in China for nearly a decade, takes a few minutes to look at the links between HIV and AIDS, media and Chinese society with TerraViva’s Johanna Son.
Stigma, Cash Crunch Hurt Gains in Access to Treatment
By Johanna Son and Lynette Lee Corporal
BALI, Aug 10 (TerraViva) – The failure to reach the neediest, often most stigmatised, people and the global financial crisis loom as Asia-Pacific’s biggest challenges in coping with HIV and AIDS at this point, despite the major headway it has made in expanding the number of people with access to treatment. Read more…
Q & A: ‘Many Still Think That If You Have It, You’ll Die’
Remoto
The Philippines is a low-HIV prevalence country in South-east Asia. But according to journalist and activist Danton Remoto, who is also communications offer for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Philippines, there are still many underreported and unreported cases. “The figures could be ten times higher,” said Remoto, known more in his home country as a multi-awarded literary writer and chair of Ladlad, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender political party.
Remoto talks to TerraViva’s Lynette Corporal about his advocacy and his views about the Philippine situation on HIV and AIDS. Read more…
Heard & Overheard: No, It’s Not Like the Falungong
Over at the 'condom zone', condoms are the message. Photo: J Son
BALI, Aug 10 (TerraViva) – In discussing the results of a search he did in Google for Chinese keywords equivalent to ‘MSM’ — in order to look into Chinese media’s coverage of such issues in relation to reproductive health – Prof. Li Xiguang of Tsinghua University said this was a reflection of the low priority they gave to giving out the right information about HIV and AIDS. The search yielded no fruitful results – but “no, it’s not like the Falungong”, he joked. Laughter rippled through the audience at a Monday session on China Confronts HIV’, as people recalled how search engines are said to filter out results that refer to the religious sect frowned upon by officialdom in China.
HIV-Positive Women ‘Shine’
BALI, Aug 10 (TerraViva) -”The doctor told my parents to keep my dishes and utensils separate from other people and from then on, my parents started treating me differently,” Indonesian-born Frika recalls after the family learned she was HIV positive. Read more…
HIV, AIDS Stories Harder to Sell
By Lynette Lee Corporal
BALI, Aug 9 (TerraViva) – Although media coverage to raise public awareness of HIV and AIDS in the Asia-Pacific has grown by leaps and bounds in nearly three decades of the pandemic, huge gaps in reporting still prevail, journalists at the 9th International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) said. Read more…
Soldiers, Sunbathers and Security
Army troopers keep watch over Bali beaches as the AIDS conference gets underway. Photo: L Corporal
By Johanna Son
BALI, Aug 9 (TerraViva) – Security, security and still more security. This understandably ranks very high in the priorities of ICAAP 2009 organisers, especially in the wake of the Jul. 17 bombings in the Indonesian capital Jakarta and the Aug. 7 strike by anti-terror operatives against a key suspect in Central Java.
