| Ten thousand abstracts, a record number, were submitted for presentation at AIDS 2004 by scientists, activists, policymakers, people living with HIV and those working on the front lines of the AIDS pandemic. Of them, 8,641 were accepted. These presentations were divided into five "tracks," or topics: A) Basic Science; B) Clinical Research, Treatment & Care; C) Epidemiology & Prevention; D) Social & Economic Issues; and E) Policy & Program Implementation.
Tracks A and B consisted of your typical conference fare: scientific posters and oral presentations about new antiretrovirals, adherence techniques, infection numbers, etc. The other three tracks, however, had all sorts of presentations.
In this unique presentation, the perception of commercial sex workers is described in a painting. In many communities, words and data are insufficient to describe the predicament that sex workers find themselves in. This notion that someone who is "dirty" is assumed to be HIV positive, while someone who is "clean" and dressed nicely is assumed to be HIV negative, is common worldwide.
This is the first of three "situations" depicted in the presentation. In it, the sex worker is saying to a potential client, "Oh you filthy man! We can have sex, only if you will use [a] condom."
(Please note, this was one long poster. I photographed it in three parts to make it more readable.) |
