First Asian HIV/AIDS Care Conference Ends with Call for Wider Effort

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said at the conclusion of the first meeting on HIV/AIDS patient care in Asia that the virus would spread unless organizations such as itself got involved. "The national health services are not enough to contain the epidemic globally," said Dr. Alvaro Bermejo, the federation's head of health and community care. "Organizations like the Red Cross and other organizations that are not necessarily AIDS organizations need to cooperate more," he said. "Unless we at the Red Cross and others get involved, we will never contain it."

Bermejo added that partnerships among humanitarian groups and HIV/AIDS patients across the globe had improved understanding about the deadly virus, but that more needed to be done to ease the stigma surrounding the disease. He also warned that even countries with a low prevalence of the virus need to shift resources to patient care while maintaining prevention efforts. Peter Walker, head of the federation's regional delegation for Southeast Asia, said, "there is no country that can feel complacent and say it's not my problem."

Activists, researchers and public health officials convened in Chiang Mai Monday for the global conference on Home and Community Care for People Living with HIV/AIDS. In a series of workshops and lectures, participants, including members of the business community whose workforce was affected by HIV/AIDS, mulled a range of issues including discrimination against people with the deadly virus. The event, which takes place every two years, will next be held in July 2003 in Dakar, Senegal.

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