IMAGE: A march against homophobia was held in Mexico City last Saturday, August 2, where the 17th International AIDS Conference is taking place from August 3-8.

It’s a movement that is, I can assure you, as strong and vibrant as ever; but one that is faced with the challenge of not simply limiting its vision to the ‘now’, but designing ways to ensure its sustainability well into the future – including its labour force and its financial viability.

The themes for Living 2008 – The Positive Leadership Summit were formulated by a smaller group of world leaders in Monaco in January this year. These themes - Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Positive Prevention, Criminalisation, and Universal Access to HIV Treatments, Care and Prevention Programmes - were intensively workshopped, from which process the results will be available in the not-too-distant future.

Delegates were asked to nominate the theme they were most passionate about, and work on molding a framework from which all future work in these fields will come.

This sort of response can only be fairly achieved by involving people from around the world. Obviously, some countries are more advanced than others, and thus this sharing of information often results in less advanced countries receiving important information about ways to overcome the hurdles they face.

This was particularly evident in the group I was working with, who were developing a strategy for Criminalisation.

Although there was a strong feeling among delegates that criminalisation should not be included on the agenda, reality forced the hands of those participating. Consequently, we had to come up with an alternative to the current legal and health models in operation around the world. One suggestion included involving non-government organisations (NGOs) in the process of identifying and assisting individuals placed in compromising positions; a model which would hopefully avoid the often nasty, embarrassing and destructive ways we presently have of dealing with such situations.

I took the opportunity to remind the gathering how important this issue was: pointing out that every time a negatively-slanted news story appears in the media (generally involving an alleged case of reckless endangerment) it pushes HIV and those living with the virus further back into the closet. The worst case scenario of such a situation could lead to the scary and unwelcome possibility of HIV becoming invisible.

From the very beginning of Living 2008, several of the guest speakers clearly and appropriately articulated that HIV/AIDS is not about figures, it is about people.

The summit highlighted the necessity of having positive people play integral roles in the ongoing response to the pandemic. It also reminded delegates that the positive movement needs to seriously consider ways of bringing younger people on board to continue the work done by so many dedicated people over many, many years.

Yes - antiretrovirals are available in many countries, including Australia - but not all.

Yes – people are living longer with the virus – but this also creates a whole new set of challenges for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) governments, health care providers and NGOs alike.

Yes – some governments have been responsible in their funding of the sector ¬- but not all countries have done so, which lessens opportunities for support and advocacy for those living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.

The day before the conference, George W. Bush signed the monumentally important President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Not only does this bill give a clear commitment from the US Government in the global fight against AIDS, it gives the US equivalent of the Health Minister a green light to remove the discriminatory and unfair entrance and immigration restrictions on PLWHA currently in place in the United States. This may well be seen historically as one of the best things President Bush ever did in his eight year tenure.

With Living 2008 – The Positive Leadership Summit over, the delegates (including myself and 50,000 others from around the world) are now preparing for the 17th International AIDS Conference here in Mexico City: AIDS 2008 – Universal Action Now! Look for a detailed report on the conference in MCV next week, and regular updates on the MCV website in the interim.

Brett Hayhoe is the president of PLWHA Victoria: www.plwhavictoria.org.au

To read Brett's AIDS COnference diary go here

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