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The Human Side of HIV/AIDS

August 2012 by Carie Muntifering
TAGS: AIDS 2012, Health Workers, Monitoring and Evaluation

Carie MuntiferingIn the closing ceremony of the International AIDS Conference last week, Nancy Pelosi quoted George Bernard Shaw stating, “It is the mark of a truly intelligent person to be moved by statistics.” Pelosi went on to say that she believes everyone in the room was moved throughout the week by statistics but that we were also moved by stories. I couldn’t agree more.

I had never attended the International AIDS Conference before this year but I have been to many other conferences and I am used to attending sessions that describe public health issues in terms of multivariate analyses and odds ratios. Don’t get me wrong, as a researcher by training I get very excited by p-values less than 0.05, but to keep my interest I also need to feel connected, inspired, and guided by the human side of public health. This is exactly what the International AIDS Conference delivered. Presentations ranged from statistically savvy to emotionally charged and nearly every session included a mix of researchers, program implementers, activists, community leaders, and civil society members, creating a holistic view of HIV/AIDS and the challenges we must overcome if we are going to turn the tide. Read more »

Let’s Move People

July 2012 by Carol Bales
TAGS: AIDS 2012, AIDS-free Generation, Health Workers, HIV/AIDS, OVC

I woke up on my second day at the International AIDS Conference wanting to be moved. Not that the opening plenary speeches I attended the day before were not inspiring, but I was left wanting a more personal experience or connection. I know I’m not alone.

That day I found myself in front of a piece of art outside the main session room, a see-through column lined with small dolls. I leaned in to examine the artful beadwork on the dolls, very similar but intricately different. Orphan Tower contains 634 dolls made by local bead workers in a rural village in South Africa. Each doll represents one child living in the village whose parents died from AIDS. According to the placard, there are currently over 3.7 million AIDS orphans in South Africa alone. To represent all of them, there would need to be 5,835 of these towers. I’m left wondering who will care for these children, if they will also develop AIDS, and, if so, whether will they receive treatment. I’m also aware that these dolls could represent millions of children all over Africa, and all over the world. Read more »

Frontline Health Workers Are the Key Link to Turning the Tide on HIV

July 2012 by Rachel Deussom
TAGS: AIDS 2012, Cameroon, Health Workers, HIV/AIDS, International AIDS Conference

Rachel DeussomOn Tuesday’s plenary session at the International AIDS Conference, Phil Wilson of the Black AIDS Institute talked about the need for an “army of patient navigators,” people who provide the critical connection between HIV-affected individuals and life-saving health and social services.

As a Peace Corps volunteer working in Northern Cameroon, I came to know a timid collection of youth who believed that their HIV diagnosis was a death sentence. In addition to facing the stigma surrounding HIV, they must overcome the burdens of poverty, limited literacy, and in most cases being a woman in a conservatively Muslim society. 

Under the shade of a neem tree, they questioned the possibility of their dreams. How long could they live? Should they invest in going to school? Could they ever hope to have a family someday? Read more »

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