Local aboriginal group marks World AIDS Day
Members of a local HIV/AIDS support group commemorated World AIDS Day at the Prince George courthouse on Friday by dishing out bowls of soup, distributing socks and handing out condoms.
The event, billed as “Socks, Soup and Sex Ed,” organized by Positive Living North, an Aboriginal HIV/AIDS service organization, was aimed at reducing stigma. The group hoped to encourage members of the public to get tested regularly at sexual health clinics.
“We have soup and socks,” said Judy Mitchell, support services manager for Positive Living North.
“Soup to warm the belly to keep people warm, keep people fed. And socks because socks are as easy to put on as condoms.”
According to Vanessa West, executive director of Positive Living North, the organization has recently added its name to a statement signed at the ninth International AIDS Society Conference in Paris last July. The statement, known simply as “U=U,” or undetectable=untransmittable, states that the risk of transmission of HIV from an individual who has taken antiretroviral treatment, and who has had an undetectable viral load in their blood for at least six months, is largely nonexistent.
“That brings down the stigma and discrimination that people living with HIV face because of their HIV status,” West said.
“Now it’s to the point that they can live with HIV, live healthy lives and live healthy sexual lives.”
For those living in B.C.’s north with HIV/AIDS, stigma and misinformation continue to have a negative effect on their quality of life, according to Orlando Mcleish, an educator with Positive Living North.
“The key thing about stigma is that when the disease or illness is stigmatized, persons are fearful to talk about it and fearful even to get tested,” Mcleish said.
“We have members in our organization who have been kicked out of their reserve community or who have been kicked out of their communities.”
Positive Living North provides educational and prevention services to people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. Based in Prince George, the organization also has satellite offices serving Smithers and Dawson Creek.