140 Community Leaders Living With HIV/AIDS Gather in Thailand

Some 140 community leaders living with HIV/AIDS gathered Tuesday in Thailand to build self-empowerment and create new battle strategies in the fight against the epidemic, the UN and activists reported. Involving people from 21 nations, the four-day program at the Pattaya beach resort south of Bangkok is billed as the largest leadership workshop for those with HIV/AIDS in Asia-Pacific.

"The participation of so many people from all across the region sends a clear signal that those with AIDS are eager to make a positive difference in the response to the epidemic," Greg Gray, regional coordinator of the Asia Pacific Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS, said in a statement.

A new program organized jointly by APN and the United Nations Development Program, "Leadership for Results" will teach participants how to reach out and influence others in order to contain the epidemic in a region where more than 7 million people have HIV/AIDS, UNDP said in a statement. "UNDP believes that people living with HIV/AIDS must be at the center of any response against the epidemic," UNDP Senior Adviser on HIV/AIDS for Asia-Pacific Sonam Yangchen Rana said.

First launched in May in India, the program uses cutting-edge methods from around the world to fortify the capacity and participation of people living with HIV/AIDS in the fight against the disease and related stigma and discrimination experienced in Asia.

The leadership program is currently being adopted by a host of other countries, including Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and China.

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