October 1-2, 2004 the Asia-pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (APN+) and The pacific Islands AIDS Foundation (PIAF) held a meeting in Suva, Fiji Islands, with representatives of organizations in Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea and Australia. They discussed needs and issues for the Region, the nature and status of current regional initiatives, and shared information, experiences and possible solutions to problems. On the first day, representatives gave presentations on the work of their organizations and the issues they confront. A number of groups in the Region are still in the early stages of organizational development. For example the Fijian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (FJN+) was formally registered as a positive network in September 2004, and IZA foundation in Vanuatu was set up in March 2004. Igat Hope, in Papua New Guinea, is not yet a registered group, but it is the process of drawing up a constitution and recruiting for a coordinator. Some groups are receiving support in their efforts. NAPWA Australia, which has developed manuals for organizational development and fund raising, is assisting Igat Hope for their constitution and registration process. Participants were also invited to identify the needs of their positive communities. They expressed various classic needs, such as needs for capacity building and collaboration with other stakeholders, sustainable access to ARVs, and access to counseling, information on ARVs and treatment preparedness. They also articulated what they perceive the obstacles to be to getting those needs met. And, for better or for worse, most of them are the same as those that exist everywhere else: fear and prejudice, lack of resources and skills, lack of support from governments, NGOs and health care providers, discrimination, insufficient visibility of HIV+ people, lack of food and nutrition, and lack of networking within the Region. Solutions proposed include raising resources, PLWHA leading activities, empowerment and capacity building of PLWHA, increasing access to information, VCT and PMTCT, treatment literacy and education, increased awareness, planning for orphan care, addressing youth issues, addressing discrimination, and increasing dialogue with governments and other players. On the second day, presentations were given on human rights, stigma and discrimination, the principle of the Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA), PLWHA empowerment, and on the work of the pacific Red Cross HIV/AIDS Committee. In addition, funders and other key players met to discuss the possibility of a pacific Conference that would not be PLWHA specific but open to all stakeholders. Participants were asked which issues they would like to see on the agenda if a pacific meeting were to take place. They mentioned the need for gender specific sessions, positive prevention and positive living, and ARV treatment education and preparedness. APN+ reiterated its full support and assistance in any pacific initiatives, as did PIAF.

Brief report on the Southeast and East Asia Treatment Education and Advocacy Workshop held in Pattaya, Thailand, September 20-24, 2004 The Southeast and East Asia Treatment Education and Advocacy Workshop was held in Pattaya, Thailand September 20-24, 2004. It was organized by APN+ and a steering committee of activists from around the Asia Pacific region. Sponsored by the TIDES Foundation, this successful four day meeting was attended by 40 participants from eight countries: Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, China and Thailand, a majority of whom were people living with HIV and AIDS. An additional 30 resource people, translators, presenters, steering committee members, and observers also participated. The majority of people living with HIV and AIDS in the Southeast and East Asia region who need treatments do not have access to them. Community organizations, especially PLWHA groups, need training in treatment literacy and education and treatment advocacy. This workshop was aimed to stimulate progress in this area. But it also had another set of related goals. Following the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) meeting in Cape Town in 2003, the need was identified for funding for grassroots treatment education and advocacy initiatives. Since then, in a process led by the TIDES foundation, various funders agreed to fund a collaboration to provide grants to community based organizations to do treatment education and advocacy projects. A regional collaborative fund has now been established in the Southeast and East Asia region, and this workshop aimed to facilitate a process for participants to design projects and proposals to apply for funding. The four days involved basic treatment education, a discussion of how to promote treatment literacy and education, an introduction to the concept of advocacy, discussions on developing advocacy plans and strategies around treatment access, and a session on how to write funding proposals. Information was given on the Collaborative Fund. The agenda was designed to give participants time to interact and relax. It was also designed to facilitate sharing of experience, and to build momentum for follow-up to the workshop. There were also special sessions on buyer’s clubs to facilitate accessing cheaper medicines, and on HIV treatment. In addition, case studies were presented on treatment advocacy in Thailand, and working with vulnerable communities in Nepal—a country which expected soon to host a similar workshop for South Asia. Interpretation was provided for six languages to fully encourage the participation of all attendees. In terms of next steps, participants drafted strategies and action plans, both on an individual basis as well as in country groups. Many indicated the desire to establish national networks, whether for treatment advocacy or for national networks of people with HIV and AIDS in countries where they do not exist. A call for submissions for applications to the regional collaborative fund will be posted within the next few months.

APN+ GIPA position

Specific aims, structure and governance of ANP+

Until recently there were no quantitative data on the extent, nature or pattern of AIDS-related discrimination in Asia. APN+ therefore designed a peer-led study to document the discrimination faced by positive people. We decided that positive people would be most able to gain access to other positive people and that respondents would feel most comfortable sharing their experiences with others diagnosed with HIV. We hoped the experience might be mutually empowering for both researcher and respondent, and this turned out to be so. Over a period of three years (2000-2002) APN+ trained nearly 50 positive people in four countries (India, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand) to go into the field and collect data. The project was funded by UNAIDS. The researchers collected a wealth of information via 760 structured in-depth interviews with positive people. The findings are the first systematic documentation of the extent of discrimination in the region. The APN+ study findings confirm observations made in various countries: instances of discrimination are common and widespread, even in Thailand, long upheld for its progress in responding to HIV. The different levels of discrimination experienced in different countries are not remarkable but the gap of experiences between the sexes is significantly different, with women bearing the brunt of AIDS-related discrimination.