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think5 opinion&editorial The British Columbia Persons With AIDS Society seeks to empower persons living with HIV disease and AIDS through mutual support and collective action. The Society has over 4800 HIV+ members. Living Positive editorial board Denise Becker, Lorne Berkovitz – chair, Wayne Campbell, William Christiansen, Doug Mitchell, Derek Thaczuk, Neil Self, Tova Diva, Glyn Townson Managing editor Jeff Rotin Design / production Britt Permien Copyediting Christina Thiele Proofing Rob Gair, Carl Bognar Contributing writers Willie Blackmore, Cheryl Collier, Dr. Marianne Harris, Diana Johansen, Cécile Kazatchkine, Shannon Lee, Leslie Leung, Nicole Lewis, Suzanne MacCarthy, Chuck Osborne, Ron Rosenes, Laura Vicol Photography Britt Permien Director of communications & education Adam Reibin Director of advocacy and prison outreach Adriaan de Vries Director of health promotion Elgin Lim Subscriptions / distribution John Kozachenko, Joe LeBlanc Funding for Living Positive is provided by the BC Gaming Policy & Enforcement Branch and by subscription and donations. Living Positive magazine 1107 Seymour St., 2nd Floor Vancouver BC V6B 5S8 TEL 604.893.2206 FAX 604.893.2251 EMAIL living@bcpwa.org BCPWA ONLINE www.bcpwa.org © 2010 living5 Permission to reproduce: All Living Positive articles are copyrighted. Non-commercial reproduction is welcomed. For permission to reprint articles, either in part or in whole, please email living@bcpwa.org Get your vote on at our AGM by Glyn Townson last year’s Annual General AtMeeting (AGM), BCPWA members voted in favour of a new system of mail-in balloting that has revolutionized our standard voting procedure for BCPWA business. Whereas we once saved all special resolutions until the AGM and relied on the handful of members who were present to cast deciding votes, mail-in balloting allows us to motion special resolutions at any time of the year and trust their approval or refusal to a broader, more representative range of BCPWA voting members. I personally put this special resolution forward on behalf of the board of directors because we strongly believe this system will produce long-term and meaningful benef its for our community. Our Society is now comprised of more than 4,800 members; last year, less than 100 members showed up to our AGM. That they should decide the direction of our business simply isn’t fair. While your attendance at our AGM this August is still vital (see the inside front cover of this issue for details), I urge you all to familiarize yourselves with the new mail-in balloting procedures outlined in this issue of Living Positive and to respond, thoughtfully, when you receive your voting packages later this spring. Remember, BCPWA is your Society—you’re obliged to guide its success. Of course, your input to BCPWA isn’t limited to voting on special resolutions. We’re always open to member feedback about our programs, services, and resources. In particular, we’re extremely interested to hear your thoughts and suggestions on the image-building work we’ve been doing over the past year. What do you think of our redesigned website at www.bcpwa.org? Can you f ind all the information you need there? And how do you feel about our new front desk management? If you’ve visited our Vancouver off ice recently, have you noticed greater eff iciency when you check in at the reception desk? We’d love to know. Please email us at info@bcpwa.org. I’ll be reading! 5 Glyn Townson is the chair of BCPWA. 2 living5 MayqJune 2010
Canada cuts funding to international AIDS vaccine project Canada has pulled the plug on funding to one of the largest AIDS vaccine development agencies in the world. Between 2001 and 2008, the Canadian International Development Agency contributed nearly $80 million to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), one of the biggest backers of HIV vaccine trials in the developing world. In 2009, Canada contributed nothing to the organization and said funding was under review. There was no money again in this year’s federal budget and no decision on whether IAVI will ever receive Canadian funding again. In 2007, when Canada announced its own Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI), Canada committed that the CHVI “would not compromise Canada’s international support of AIDS vaccines.” The CHVI is a $139-million, five-year joint venture between Canada and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It was announced to great fanfare in February 2007. But three years later, less than $9 million has been spent on CHVI, including almost $700,000 on a proposed $88-million vaccine production facility that was scrapped last month. Source: Canwest News Service HIV and hepatitis C crisis in federal prisons A report released by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) in early April reveals an HIV prevalence rate in federal prisons that rivals those of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and is greater than the HIV prevalence rates in all other regions of the world. At 4.6 percent, the rate of HIV infection in federal prisons is 15 times greater than that in the community as a whole. As for hepatitis C in federal prisons, the 31 percent rate of infection is 39 times greater than the population as a whole. In both cases, incarcerated women and especially Aboriginal women—of whom 11.7 percent are infected with HIV—are disproportionately infected with HIV and hepatitis C. “About half the prisoners surveyed reported sharing used needles or syringes to inject drugs, and about one-third reported sharing a needle with someone who has HIV, hepatitis C or unknown infection status,” said Sandra Ka Hon Chu, senior policy analyst at the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. “This clearly poses a risk of HIV or hepatitis C transmission, a risk that could be remedied with prisonbased needle and syringe programs.” China repeals ban on HIV-positive visitors China has scrapped a 20-year-old travel ban that barred people with HIV and AIDS from entering the country just days ahead of the opening of the Shanghai Expo, which hopes to welcome millions of overseas visitors. China’s cabinet, the State Council, said in a statement posted to its website that the government passed amendments on April 19 revising the Border Quarantine Law as well as China’s Law on Control of the Entry and Exit of Aliens. The changes were effective immediately. The decision follows similar moves by the US and South Korea to eliminate travel restrictions for people with HIV. Both lifted their bans on visitors with HIV on January 1, 2010. Source: The Associated Press MayqJune 2010 living5 3 Victoria still waiting for needle exchange site After two years without a f ixed needle-exchange site, Victoria can’t sit back and wait for health officials to develop an Island-wide distribution model, says Victoria Councillor Philippe Lucas. “There’s absolutely no reason and no excuse for us to wait for an Islandwide model to be put in place before this municipality takes action in trying to reduce the spread of disease and improve the public health of our region,” Lucas said. The Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) is looking at a number of potential sites to establish an Island-wide distributed needle exchange program. At Lucas’s urging, council has asked city staff to compile past reports on harm reduction initiatives and consult with stakeholders such as drug user advocacy groups, VIHA, AIDS Vancouver Island, and police to produce a report on potential courses of action and costs. Source: The Victoria Times Colonist photo Mike Verbergt Pharma firm sees quick FDA approval Montreal’s Theratechnologies Inc., developer of tesamorelin to treat excess abdominal fat in HIV/AIDS patients, is confident US regulators will approve the drug’s US launch for late this year. CEO Yves Rosconi said a US Food and Drug Administration panel of experts will review the new drug application (NDA) for tesamorelin without further modifications on May 27 in a public process. The panel’s recommendation will go immediately to the FDA. “We continued on next page
Page 1: inside 333 features q treatment inf
Page 5 and 6: The FIGHTING WORDS Fighting back Th
Page 7 and 8: Jennifer Evin Jones For the past 15
Page 9 and 10: Cover Story BCPWA is changing with
Page 11 and 12: Cover Story just some of the progra
Page 13 and 14: HIV-positive status to his partners
Page 15 and 16: Pain and anguish—and bliss One HI
Page 17 and 18: treatment *nformation TREATMENT INF
Page 20 and 21: Feature Story When old is new The i
Page 22 and 23: Feature Story and notes that future
Page 24 and 25: Antiretrovirals Whatever happened t
Page 26 and 27: Please phone 604.893.2239 or email
Page 28 and 29: Nutrition Nutrition and HIV, revisi
Page 30 and 31: Wednesdays • 5:30 PM • Training
Page 32 and 33: Let’s clinical! get Clinical tria
Page 35 and 36: New BCPWA AGM voting procedure Now
Page 37 and 38: Volunteering at BCPWA Profile of a
Page 39 and 40: If you are a member of the BC Perso

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