Tuesday, June 05, 2007 |
In this issue: |
Seeking serenity: living with HIV/AIDS in rural Western Canada(Rural and Remote Health Journal) The purpose of this naturalistic inquiry was to describe the experience of living with HIV infection in rural Alberta, Canada. Although the urban HIV epidemic has been well researched, the virus continues its spread into more remote populations where there is a need to understand and address its impact. Affected rural residents form a diverse and marginalized group that includes women, Aboriginal peoples, immigrants, injecting drug users, and men who have sex with men, yet there are few data available to inform appropriate health and social services and practice. A number of factors, such as stigma, invisibility, isolation, confidentiality, poverty, and risk behaviours, contribute to the rural experience, but have not been clearly explicated in the literature. This study was conducted in order to better understand the perceptions of health in a rural setting, the processes involved in accessing care, the challenges and benefits associated with rural life, and the relationship between personal beliefs and values and the nature of the disease.>> Click Here
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Closure of the Canadian Hepatitis C Informatoin CentreWe regret to inform you that the Canadian Hepatitis C Information Centre (CHCIC), a program of the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA), has been asked by the Hepatitis C Prevention, Support and Research Program of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to cease operations, effective June 30, 2007, while the Program re-assesses its long-term knowledge development and exchange needs. (Click below for more details)>> Click Here
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On the Road with CHRN & CASLast October, the Canadian Harm Reduction Network (CHRN) and the Canadian AIDS Society (CAS) received funding from Health Canada's Drug Strategy Community Initiatives Fund to document harm reduction programming and services in medium sized cities in Canada, to share this information broadly and to encourage national networking. The first part of this project was a symposium held in Winnipeg the end of March. Material from this symposium is already posted on the CHRN's web site. During the month of June, Lynne Belle-Isle from CAS, Lisa Fleischmann, a free-lance photo-journalist, and I are travelling to selected cities across Canada holding focus groups with people who use illegal drugs to hear their experiences of the services they receive and the services they need.Please click link below for updates on the web site with frequent messages from the cities we visit ... and we invite your comments. >> Click Here
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Focusing on the Forest, Not Just the Tree: Cultural Strategies for Combating AIDS(The Communiation Initiative) - Arvind Singhal Published in the MICA Communications Review (Vol 1, No 1, pp. 21-28), this article challenges the reliance of behaviour change communication (BCC) interventions for HIV prevention, care, and support on individuals ("the tree") as the locus of change. Arvind Singhal's claim here is that attending to the "forest" of which individuals are a part - that is, locally-situated knowledge, including its cultural elements - can be an effective strategy in designing and implementing HIV/AIDS communication campaigns.>> Click Here
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What's Culture Got to Do with HIV and AIDS?(The Communication Initiative) Helen Gould This 8-page HealthLink Findings paper reports the initial findings from a project entitled HIV/AIDS: The Creative Challenge, whose premise is that culturally mediated approaches to communicating messages on HIV/AIDS are more effective than mass media messages from the biomedical community to the local community. The project has been developed by Creative Exchange in partnership with Exchange and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).The author, Helen Gould, provides an introductory analysis of the concept of culture, looks at examples and success stories of effective application of cultural approaches to HIV/AIDS communication, and sets out the terms of the debate around culture in the context of the current international HIV/AIDS strategy. >> Click Here
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TB and HIV - What the Papers Aren’t Saying(The Communication Inititative) This 16-page report on the need to enhance media coverage of tuberculosis (TB) argues that increasing mass media coverage of TB is crucial in helping to tackle the disease. Media coverage is one of the main ways people receive health information, and media coverage keeps TB on the public agenda so that health policymakers take notice. The paper is based on findings from a 2006 content analysis of print media in 12 countries which found little TB coverage in local or national print media, despite the fact that these countries rank among the highest TB burden countries in the world. The authors argue that the main reasons behind the lack of coverage are the health sector’s failure to engage with journalists adequately and the media’s unwillingness to prioritise health stories, despite TB being the leading cause of death among people living with HIV.>> Click Here
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The quest for an effective HIV vaccine presents new possibilities, challenges(Biology News Net) A vaccine that prevents HIV infection remains an important goal in the fight against AIDS, but the current top HIV vaccine candidates may not work in this way, say scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Rather, the first successful preventive HIV vaccines, if administered prior to HIV infection, may reduce HIV levels in the body, thereby delaying the progression to AIDS and the need to start antiretroviral drugs. These vaccines may also reduce the chance that a person infected with HIV would pass the virus on to other people, according to NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and Margaret I. Johnston, Ph.D., director of NIAID’s Vaccine Research Program in the Division of AIDS. >> Click Here
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Appeals Court Hears Arguments in Case Challenging U.S. Policy Requiring Overseas HIV/AIDS Groups To Oppose Commercial Sex Work(Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report) The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City on Friday heard oral arguments in a lawsuit involving a U.S. policy requiring that recipients of federal HIV/AIDS service grants pledge to oppose commercial sex work, the New York Sun reports (Goldstein, New York Sun, 6/1). The Bush administration in June 2005 notified U.S. organizations providing HIV/AIDS-related services in other countries that they must sign the pledge to be considered for federal funding. The policy stems from two 2003 laws, including an amendment to legislation (HR 1298) authorizing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief that prohibits funds from going to any group or organization that does not have a policy "explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking." The Open Society Institute, the Alliance for Open Society International and Pathfinder International in 2005 filed the lawsuit against USAID over the policy. OSI has said the policy "weakens efforts to provide lifesaving services and information to sex workers" and is unconstitutional because it is vague and requires private organizations to adopt the government's position. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Rosberger argued that the 2003 law mandating the pledge did not contain any provision intended to deter HIV/AIDS treatment efforts, including those for commercial sex workers. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in May 2006 ruled that the U.S. policy violates the groups' First Amendment right to free speech (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 5/10/06).>> Click Here
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Dr. Anne Fanning Keynote at HIV Edmonton AGM
HIV Edmonton AGMANNUAL GENERAL MEETING June 18, 2007 at 6:30 PM in the Boardroom at HIV Edmonton Suite 300, 11456 Jasper Avenue.
Our guest speaker will be Dr. Anne Fanning, a 2006 Inductee to The Order of Canada. Dr. Fanning will address HIV, Tuberculosis and Poverty. RSVP by calling Sue Ann at 488-5742 or emailing reception@hivedmonton.com.
The main entrance to our building closes at 5:30pm. To enter the building, please press 300 on the keypad to the right of the door and we will gladly let you in.
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HIV Edmonton Sponsors the 2007 Edmonton Pride AwardsHIV Edmonton is all about community development and recognizing those members of community whose efforts and selflessness have contributed greatly to our spirit and mosaic. It is to this end that HIV Edmonton is pleased to announce our sponsorship of the 2007 Annual Pride Awards being held at Edmonton City Hall on Friday, June 15th at 7:00 PM. HIV Edmonton is also proud to announce the creation of the HIV Edmonton Youth Leadership Award that is to be awarded at the Annual Pride Awards to a youth or person who has worked and/or volunteered with the LGBTQ youth community. The Youth Leadership Award includes a $300.00 bursary for education. (Plan on attending. Click below for more information on these annual community awards.) Click Here
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Young Gay Adults Group
ARE YOU BETWEEN 21 AND 30 YEARS OLD?
Looking for a safe and sober space to meet other young adults?
Pride Centre of Edmonton is looking to set up a social/discussion group for young adults age 21-30.
Interested? Come to our focus group on Monday July 23, 2007 (7pm to 9pm)
For more information please call the Pride Centre at (780) 488-3234 or email brendan@pridecentreofedmonton.org or engelhardtr@shaw.ca
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HIV Edmonton's Pride Ad
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