August 1, 2008
LAST CALL IAC SUMMIT REMINDER!
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Housing is a right! |
You're invited to make history—and waves—at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City this weekend. The National AIDS Housing Coalition, Housing Works, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Ontario HIV Treatment Network will host the first-ever International Summit on Poverty, Homelessness and HIV/AIDS satellite session at the 2008 International AIDS Conference on Sunday, August 3, 2008 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm in Session Room 7. The session will be conducted in English, Spanish and French.
After the session, participants will march to the IAC offices and present IAC organizers with a declaration demanding that "policy makers address the lack of adequate housing as a barrier to effective HIV prevention, treatment and care; and that all governments fund and develop housing as a response to the AIDS pandemic."
The International Summit on Poverty, Homelessness and HIV/AIDS is the first time an IAC satellite session has addressed the link between AIDS and homelessness. The session will provide a forum for people living with HIV/AIDS and their advocates to exchange information on the critical role that combating homelessness and poverty plays in ending the AIDS pandemic.
While adequate and secure housing has long been recognized as a basic human right, a growing body of research shows that lack of adequate housing is directly related to the spread of HIV, poor health outcomes for people living with HIV, and early deaths from AIDS. While the research has largely been U.S.-focused to date, that needs to change. "It's not just wealthy countries like the U.S. that can address homelessness among people with AIDS. This is an issue that demands global action," said Housing Works President and CEO Charles King.
Session participants include King; Luis Adrian Quiroz, deVVVIMSS (Mexico); Suben Dhakal, Blue Diamond Society (Nepal); Yvette Raphael, JHHESA (South Africa); Esther Boucicault, FEBS (Haiti); Marcelle Brown, Housing Works (United States); Enrique Chavez, AID for AIDS (Peru); Jesus Aguais, AID for AIDS (U.S.); Gina Quattrochi, Bailey House (U.S.); Priya Golapen, Rooftops Canada (Canada); Ernest Hopkins, San Francisco AIDS Foundation(U.S.); and Ruthann Tucker, Ontario HIV Treatment Network (CA).
Demands for housing for people with AIDS won't abate after the satellite session. Housing advocates are planning to make a racket for the rest of the conference, until every one of the thousands of IAC delegates understands the connection between housing and HIV prevention and health care.
For more information about the summit, e-mail Christine Campbell at campbell@housingworks.org.
See you in Mexico City!