In the beginning, SILENCE = DEATH because that's all there was... NOW, after 30 Years; there's better Drugs/Treatment, more Knowledge, better prepared Doctors, Survivors living longer, and Less Deaths. Groundbreaking results from scientific studies have radically altered the way we see treatment. Because treatment is also prevention, the conversation focused on how we can get more drugs to more pe...ople in more countries (including the United States) more affordably...
All these things spurred a worldwide discussion around an incredible notion: the end of AIDS. Global health experts claimed, in chorus, that our generation has the tools to stop the spread of HIV forever.
The Problem that remains is that there's still
All these things spurred a worldwide discussion around an incredible notion: the end of AIDS. Global health experts claimed, in chorus, that our generation has the tools to stop the spread of HIV forever.
The Problem that remains is that there's still
too much Silence!
Those of y’all who have known me the longest understand my passion for My Mission. One of the things I’m Proud of is having established a Living Trust that has guided and supported my Life with HIV. I may not always succeed in my attempts to Educate about, Support and Advocate for the HIVe CommUNITY (as well as manage My HIVe’s Budget, LOL!); but I’ve done my best and haven’t given up. The People and Places through which My Journey has led me; have shared with, taught me and enriched it more than I can ever repay; Thanks Y’All.
Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good." --Vaclav Havel
You can not solve a problem without looking at BOTH side of the issue. After 30 years of HIV, there is a lot of conflicting information in regards to HIV Prevention, and most of this is as a result of too many HIV agencies and organizations. Nationwide, these HIV agencies set goals, raise funding and TALK but, non have pioneered NEW HIV Prevention Strategies or taken action outside the limits of "The Status Quo". Time is running out for your local HIV agency and NO ONE can stop the evolution of thought and freedom of choice.
The vision for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy is simple:
The United States will become a place where new HIV infections are rare and when they do occur, every person, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or socio-economic circumstance, will have unfettered access to high quality, life-extending care, free from stigma and discrimination.
The vision for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy is simple:
The United States will become a place where new HIV infections are rare and when they do occur, every person, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or socio-economic circumstance, will have unfettered access to high quality, life-extending care, free from stigma and discrimination.
The Nation (WE, the People!) can succeed at meeting the President's goals! It will require the Federal Government and State, Tribal and Local Governments, however, to do some things differently. Foremost is the need for an unprecedented commitment to collaboration, efficiency and innovation. We also must be prepared to adjust course as needed. This strategy is intended to complement other related efforts across the Administration. For example, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has taught us valuable lessons about fighting HIV and scaling up efforts around the world that can be applied to the domestic epidemic. The President's National Drug Control Strategy serves as a blueprint for reducing drug ude and its consequences, and the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness focuses efforts to reduce homelessness and increase housing and security. The White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) will work collaboratively with the Office of National Drug Control Policy and other White House offices, as well as relevant agencies to further the goals of the Strategy. The Strategy is intended to promote greater investment in HIV/AIDS, but this is not a budget document. Nonetheless, it will inform the Federal budget development process within the context of the fiscal goals that the President has articulated. The United States currently provides more than $19 Billion in annual funding for domestic HIV prevention, care, and research, and there are constraints on the magnitude of any potential new investments in the Federal Budget. The Strategy should be used to refocus our existing efforts and deliver better results to the American people within current funding levels, as well as to highlight the need for additional investments. Our national progress will require sustaining broader public commitment to HIV, and this calls for more regular communications to ensure transparency about whether we are meeting national goals. Key steps are to:
- Increase the coordination of HIV Programs across the Federal government and between federal agencies and stste, territorial, tribal and local governments.
- Develop improved mechanisms to monitor and report on progress toward achieving national goals
This Strategy provides a basic framework for moving forward. With government at all levels doing its part, a committed private sector, and leadership from people living with HIV and affected communities, the United States can dramatically reduce HIV transmission and better support people living with HIV and their families.
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Greetings!
This October, in the 30th year of this grotesque calamity, marked the 20th milestone of my personal Journey through AIDS.
AIDS is an extraordinary kind of crisis; it is both an emergency and a long-term development issue. Despite increased funding, political commitment and progress in expanding access to HIV treatment, the AIDS epidemic continues to outpace our response. No segment of humanity has been spared. The epidemic remains extremely dynamic, growing and changing character as the virus exploits new opportunities for transmission. As AIDS Quilt founder Cleve Jones said in 2001; “Our hearts may be filled, but there are only two emotions worth expressing at this perilous time: GRIEF and RAGE. Grief for the millions who have died and are dying. Rage at the indifference, greed, and stupidity that permit this grotesque calamity to continue.”
Indifference, greed and stupidity are also the three major ingredients in the American recipe for what has come to be known as AIDS Complacency. A Cultural phenomena against which every major player in the fight against it has warned us continually for as long as I can remember. Indifference which is rooted in the arrogance that it can’t happen to us, only “the right people”; mainly gays. Greed fueled by the profits, jobs and paychecks from the new industry and bureaucracy it spawned. Stupidity that prevents us from using every means available to prevent future infections.
Since May 16th, 2004; the first local observance of the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial - the purpose of which was to act as a catalyst for our CommUNITY to begin again to talk about HIV/AIDS, the theme of "Turning Remembrance into ACTION!" has evolved into this blueprint for a Stronger, Louder, Prouder and More Respected South Bank response to the AIDS epidemic.
This is the intention of "World AIDS Day @ the World PEACE Bell"; to facilitate, generate and motivate a Grassroots CommUNITY Conversation about our National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the benefit of those of us who are Actually Infected or Affected and Living with it in America...
We will have a Community Support & Education Forum from Noon to 5:00 leading up to the CandlLight Ceremony at 6:00 pm. We will be set up in the Conference space that connects to the Bell walkway which will be also be the site for the "Facing AIDS", "NOH8", "Greater Than AIDS" & "ItGetsBetter" Photo Ops. ALL Greater Cincinnati HIV/AIDS Professional, Community-Based & Non-Profit Service Organizations & Agencies as well as Northern Kentucky Social Service Providers are Invited and Encouraged to participate in this CommUNITY Conversation.
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AIDS/HIV
Reaching the Unreachable.. Online Outreach
Outreach professionals are always looking for those hard-to-reach populations where HIV education is in desparate need. They take to the streets; to local bars and clubs; to bath houses. Now there is a new way to reach those hard to reach populations...online. The need for this type of outreach is certainly there. The web site Gay.com surveyed 3000 of their site visitors. 84% of those visitors reported they had met sexual partners online (Brown, Washington Post, 2/03). Other studies have traced STD outbreaks to internet chat rooms. many who have been diagnosed with STDs report the met the person who infected them via the internet.
Why the Internet?
What makes the internet so attractive to those seeking sexual liaisons? First of all, the initial meetings and discussions take place in a safe enviroment...in front of a computer. For obvious reasons, many people fear meeting a stranger in a strange, secluded place. Yet they are looking for sexual contacts. To ease their fear and still meet potential partners, people take to the chat rooms. Before any potentially harmful meeting takes place, two people can get to "know" one another online.
Knowing one another brings us to the second reason the internet is so appealing. People can be whatever or whoever they please. Six feet tall, blue eyes and blond hair....an artist....an athelete...single....or "well endowed". The internet provides a safety net for those who want to pretend.
On the other side of that same coin, chat rooms allow people to be themselves without the fear of rejection. Being cast aside online is a far cry from being rejected in person. Chatters are free to learn about one another without the pressures of that uncomfortable "first meeting".
Finally, the internet can be a very private place. Many people exploring their sexual desires want to do so under the umbrella of anonymity. For instance, many heterosexual men look for male sexual partners to explore their bisexual desires. They wish to keep these relationships and their feelings of bisexuality from their wives or girlfriends. Chat rooms are a perfect place to do so.
Is there a need for online outreach?
Simply put, yes there certainly is. Several studies have linked outbreaks of STD's such as syphilis with partners found in internet chat rooms. Two studies presented at the 2003 National HIV Prevention Conference noted that online chatrooms and Web sites are replacing gay bathhouses and sex clubs as the most popular meeting points for arranging high-risk sex. In fact the need is being recognized by prevention and outreach agencies across the country. Funding streams are now allocating funds to maintain online outreach staff. Mind you, the funds are limited but the fact that any money is available unscores the perceived importance and value of online outreach. Programs are now in place in Detroit, Seattle, Boston, Miami and Los Angeles.
What is the advantage of online outreach?
Experts agree, people who use the internet to find sexual partners have a greater number of partners than those who find sexual partners the traditional way. In addition, many of their partners are nonlocatable which makes partner notification, testing, and counseling problematic. Online outreach gives prevention specialists another tool with which to educate about safer sex and to locate potentially exposed persons. In addition, many times, online counselors are reaching people at precisely the time they are deciding whether or not to have anonymouos sex. Terrence Lo, epidemiologist with the California Department of Health Services points out that by providing anonymity, the internet allows counselors to reach those people who may be reluctant to discuss safer sex issues in other settings.
Does online outreach work?
How effective is online outreach? It's too soon to tell however some programs are showing promise. From January 2003 to October 2003, The Midwest AIDS Prevention Project in Ferndale Michigan spent over 100 hours online in chat rooms. According to their data, 289 client interventions took place (Resource: Midwest AIDS Prention Project, November, 2003). How many of those people would have engaged any prevention efforts offline?
Reaching the unreachable...online outreach and prevention. Using the internet to educate...ironic...that's what the founding fathers of the internet had intended all along.
~ Mark Cichocki
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The South Bank HIVe
An OnLine CommUNITY-Based HIV/Aids, Social Service and Survivors Support Network
315 W. 7th Street - Suite #2 * Covington, Kentucky 41011
859-261-HIVe1 (4481) * SoBankHIVe@zoomtown.com
Copyright (c)1999-2010:
The Michael W. Connett Living Trust/South Bank HIVe
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