Progress must not be confused with victory

4^th August 2008- The IAS AIDS 2008 conference officially opened with a projected delegate count of over 20000, 750 volunteers, and 4378 poster exhibitions/abstracts.

I presented the AHPN poster abstract: “Completing the Picture: an examination of the Home Office’s country reports on availability of HIV treatment in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria and Malawi”.

You can almost see from the number of delegates that stopped over, the nodding of heads and the conversations, that the abstract subject is a universal priority and requires universal action now.

Availability and access to treatment is not just about drugs, but includes the social, political and economic factors that people are exposed to and how these experiences impact on the availability and access to treatment.

Peter Piot, Executive Director at UNAIDS spoke at the opening ceremony that even before this conference took place, significant achievements have taken place around the world in relation to HIV and AIDS. This is progress…

However, we stand to say that, progress must not be confused with victory. The picture is not complete. The recommendations are a start to act now and ensure that decisions on deportations are increasingly informed, comprehensive and balanced.

(c) AHPN 2008

Jabu