When I wrote last week during the Toronto AIDS Conference about the absence of “pro-life” voices speaking out against HIV/AIDS, I mentioned that many of them had turned their attentions to Plan B.While many of this site’s readers were focused on Toronto, several of those groups were mobilizing to take out Andrew von Eschenbach before he is possibly confirmed by the Senate as FDA Commissioner.
Concerned Women for America is leading the charge, claiming that the “driving force” in “efforts to make the abortion-causing drug available over-the-counter…is none other than the acting FDA Commissioner Von Eschenback” (sic).Family Research Council is on the move too, announcing that they oppose his confirmation on account of his possible compromise with Plan B’s manufacturer in developing a plan for over-the-counter sales – a possibility that most reproductive health advocates believe is by no means guaranteed.(Side-note on FRC’s statement: While they claim to have this strong moral opposition to Plan B, they dismiss Barr Laboratories, the drug’s manufacturer, from bearing any responsibility in the matter.Why?Because they’re a for-profit drug company.Apparently for FRC, morals don’t have to hold sway in the marketplace.)Both groups are inviting supporters to call the White House and Senate and complain about Dr. von Eschenbach’s nomination.
This week, a Ugandan pastor was in Las Vegas giving talks about AIDS. Martin Sempa is a long-time AIDS activist who credits abstinence-only programs and Christian values (like fidelity and matrimony...not so much care for the vulnerable) for Uganda's success in the fight against AIDS.
Now you may be thinking: AIDS... International activist... wait a second - why wasn't he in Toronto at the International AIDS Conference? Oh yeah, it's because "hatred of motherhood and the family, a pathological fear of fidelity and sexual continence and loathing of traditional Christian values are the defining forces in the international fight against AIDS" - not a place for a guy like Sempa.
Avoiding Toronto because of expected hostility to his message, Sempa spoke from Las Vegas. Maybe you've heard of it? City of casinos, nude dancers, Elvis impersonators and quickie weddings, nicknamed "Sin City." Seems like kind of a funny place for a pastor to take haven from those wacky International AIDS activists and speak out about "Christian values" and preventing HIV, doesn't it?
Adrienne Germain is the President of the International Women's Health Coaltion.
A lot of the buzz from Toronto this week centered on women, led by the "Bill and Bill show," and especially the Gates' attention to microbicides.
Microbicides will be a key HIV prevention tool, but no technology is going to end this pandemic. Girls' and women's vulnerability is driven by discrimination in education, employment, and property rights, and by sexual coercion and violence. These fundamental issues - and ways to fix them - were not on the lips of most of the conference "star power."
Fimba is from Burkina Faso. He is representing the Guttmacher Institute's Protecting the Next Generation Project at the conference.
I participated in a very interesting session entitled "Leadership in Girls Education: An Essential Component of HIV Prevention". The panelists were Josée Verner from Canada and Jeanette Kagami from Rwanda. This session spoke about something that affects my daily life at home and for which I struggle with my colleagues from my youth network to do as much as we can to address the situation of girls in Burkina Faso.
Patricia is from Uganda. She is representing the Guttmacher Institute's Protecting the Next Generation Project at the conference.
Borrowing from the opening remarks of the co-chair of the session "Young People and Sexuality: the Unspoken Taboo," it was interesting that we didn't have a youth panelist. The topic of young people and sexuality has always been controversial and raises a lot of debate. This session has been very interesting coming from a country and society where the topics discussed raise eyebrows and in some situations a tendency to not even want to talk about it. Yet, it's becoming a real issue that needs to be addressed. The panelists talked about and shared their findings on sex tourism in Kenya, HIV among male migrants, urban youth culture and MSM in Jamaica, the risks, homophobia and related questions.
I work for an organization that boldly studies issues of sexuality and it has not been an easy thirteen years. Many people were hesitant about talking openly about sexuality for fear that it would increase sexual activity among young people and thereby accelerate the HIV infection rate. Over the years, though, continuous sensitization, advocacy and experience-sharing about the benefits of open discussion and dialog about sexuality have helped people come to appreciate the importance of talking about sexuality to young people. The times have changed. Yet some people in our society do not want to accept that people be free to express themselves without judgment.
Thembi is from Malawi. She is representing the Guttmacher Institute's Protecting the Next Generation Project at the conference.
This session was presented by CAP AIDS, a Canada-based organization, which provides small grants to organizations working with communities in Africa. The presentation addressed how effective bikes are in services delivery in African communities. In my country, Malawi, transport is really a big problem and people spend more time walking then providing services. The distances that community health workers have to travel are very long. This makes their jobs ineffective in many communities. However, with the donation of 15 bicycles from CAP AIDS, the service delivery has been improved. For instance, one peer educator with a bike reaches about 40 young people in a week and 200 in a month. This really has a great impact on young people in getting information on sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. A lot of them have been transformed.
In James Pinkerton's mini rant about AIDS activists addressing the pandemic as a social issue as well as scientific-medical issue, he misses the obvious - the underlying factors driving the pandemic are social issues: poverty, gender and other gross inequalities, and the inability to address sexual matters forthrightly and honestly to name a few. Though he goes on about the stigma toward sexual workers, he also misses the obvious point - and one that might actually have some positive impact: this is a demand driven profession.
Maria de Bruyn is the Senior Policy Advisor for Ipas.
Prior to and throughout the International AIDS Conference, activists and experts are meeting in a series of satellite sessions that address issues that may not get the full attention of the conference. This satellite session focused on linking HIV/AIDS with sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), especially with regard to men who have sex with men, sex workers and injecting drug users. There were a number of noteworthy statements and reflections:
Joyce is from Ghana. She is representing the Guttmacher Institute's Protecting the Next Generation Project at the conference.
I was in the skill building session this morning. It focused on "Unemployment, Poverty and Strategies to Empower Youth toward Economic Independence." There was a presentation on the situation of the youth on Saba Island in the Caribbean and structures put in place to promote economic independence.
Clearly from the presentations and results from group work, most countries shared similar youth economic independence barriers. My own country of Ghana is challenged with lack of education and skill, perception and attitudes of both the youth and decision makers, lack of support from the family system and poverty among others.
I’ve spent the week wondering why, while 25,000 people in Toronto and almost every major media outlet has focused in on AIDS, the radical right-wing groups who claim to be “pro-life” have been dead silent about the world’s biggest preventable killer.Focus on the Family?Concerned Women for America?Family Research Council?Nothing to say.But then a little blink from my RSS reader alerted me to a new article posted on LifeSiteNews.com on Tuesday afternoon: they had proved us wrong, and had actually taken time to talk about the conference. And what, might you guess, did they have to say?
