This paper was prepared after a special session at the NAPWA General Meeting April 2007 where NAPWA members discussed their response to concerns over sensationalist media attention surrounding recent HIV transmission cases.
Members had requested that NAPWA give attention to the context in which HIV criminalisation issues are dominating media discourse and in which public health frameworks seem to be placed in the background.Representatives had reported their own constituents were in contact with them expressing their concerns about the current environment.
With recent media reports using language not seen since the late eighties (e.g.,‘innocent victims’and ‘AIDS carriers’) members attending the national meeting were trying to find their own position for action, within what seemed like, quite inappropriate and misleading media coverage. The session explored the effects on the lives, freedoms and socialities of HIV positive people.
NAPWA membership forums and special sessions are one important mechanism to canvass the views and opinions of the NAPWA membership on national issues of significance and concern. They provide a safe and confidential space for representatives to share their views and concerns and provide member feedback to NAPWA for national awareness and policy response.
Positive advocates and representatives from around Australia were asked to respond to two questions:
- What are you hearing – now – as the major concerns of the constituents you represent?
- What can be done to support you and your organisation in responding to this?
In an environment in which policy is meant to be developed through partnership and dialogue (within the context of a 5th National Strategy) the recording and reporting of how a population of HIV positive Australians are experiencing this moment is necessary.The following were the areas of major concern reported to NAPWA.
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