women, girls and HIV/AIDS

be in solidarity with our sisters afflicted with HIV/AIDS. tomorrow is world AIDS day. this year’s theme focus on the fairer sex – females!

this year’s theme, ‘women, girls, & HIV/AIDS’ was chosen because this group of people have become particularly vulnerable to the disease through other people’s high-risk behaviours. quote from the star’s article ‘the domino affect’.
see also another article where four women who are living with HIV/AIDS share their experiences.

the following is taken from a cirucular issued by the penang office of human development:

world AIDS day is observed annually on 1 december. it is a time to renew our focus on:
* preventive education.
* care for persons with AIDS.
* remembering those who have died of AIDS
* prayer for those affected by the virus.
– advocacy for continued efforts to fight HIV/AIDS around the world.

since 1986, there have been 56,677 reported HIV/AIDS cases in malaysia. only 1% of the cases receive anti-retroviral therapy. there are increasing numbers of infected women and children. many women and girls are vulnerable to HIV because of the high-risk behaviour of others. this year’s theme seeks to raise awareness about, and help address the many issues affecting women and girls with HIV/AIDS. let us observe this day by praying for all those suffering from this deadly virus. let us also wear the red ribbon on 1st dec. as a sign of respect for HIV positive people and people living with AIDS, to remind us of the constant need to keep up the fight against AIDS.

if you want to know more about AIDS, just google for it, and you’ll get thousands of hits. answers to simple basic questions of what is AIDS and how is HIV spread and so on can also be found abudantly on the net. you will also be able to find many AIDS organisation worldwide. in our country, everybody knows of the malaysian AIDS council (MAC) where the president is datin paduka marina mahathir.

in penang, we have the community AIDS service, penang (CASP). CASP is a broad-based non-government volunteer organisation, established in 1989. they help to prevent the further spread of HIV and to provide emotional support to people living with AIDS. the following are their activities:
* an information and referral service.
* outreach to sex workers.
* outreacth to youth.
* AIDS education in the community.
* traiing for community educators and counselling on AIDS for volunteers, teachers, health workers and other interested people.
* emotional support for HIV/ADIS persons, their families and friends.

for those of you who are in penang, you might be interested to attend the ‘SS red ribbon nite’ on 4 dec., saturday at the slippy senorita’s (SS) club at upper penang road. the red ribbon nite is a special event organised by CASP in celebration of world AIDS day 2004. the evening will include charity sale of red ribbons in benefit of women, girls & children with HIV/AIDS. do go and have fun at one of the hottest nightspot (SS), and at the same time support CASP.