Taking The Rights Path
The world commemorates World AIDS Day each year on December 1st. World AIDS Day supports those who are living with HIV, while honouring the 42.3 million people who have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the beginning of the epidemic.
Take the rights path is the theme of World AIDS Day this year. It supports the belief that the world can end AIDS if we commit to ensuring that everyone’s rights are protected. It is felt that ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 can be accomplished, if human rights remain at the centre, and communities are in the lead; the huge progress made in the HIV response is directly linked to progress in protecting human rights. Engaging with those living with, at risk for, or affected by HIV – especially those most excluded and marginalized is crucial.
The “unseen” or “forgotten,” such as older people living with HIV, or those with disabilities, need to be included and need to have access to sexual health services. People with disabilities and older adults have been left out of most HIV plans, and sexual health supports don’t really exist in the aging and disability sectors. (To that end, click to view Realize’s situational analyses on ageism and ableism in Canada’s HIV, HCV and STBBI response. It paints a picture of a large gap that exists in public policy in Canada and is why Realize has created the likes of SHOP and PANACHE national – read on for updates on each of these endeavours.)
The World AIDS Day 2024 theme of taking the rights path also means that gender equality is crucial. So too are acceptance, respect and care. Policies, practices and laws that discriminate against or stigmatize people – be they women, or girls, or those from key populations or other marginalized communities – are barriers to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care.
“Despite huge progress made in the HIV response, human rights violations are still preventing the world from ending AIDS,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “When girls are denied education; when there is impunity for gender-based violence; when people can be arrested for who they are, or who they love; when a visit to health services is dangerous for people because of the community they are from—the result is that people are blocked from being able to access HIV services that are essential to save their lives and to end the AIDS pandemic. To protect everyone’s health, we need to protect everyone’s rights.”
Elton John, in an essay for UNAIDS, wrote, “I know the feeling of shame and what it can do. As long as HIV is seen as a disease for the ‘others’, not so-called ‘decent people’, AIDS will not be beaten. Science, medicine and technology may be the ‘what’ in ending AIDS, but inclusion, empathy and compassion are the ‘how’.”
The values of inclusion, empathy and compassion are at the core of Realize as an organization, and the experiences and voices of those living with HIV across Canada are at the heart of our work. We have held steady our strong focus on the episodic disability of HIV and the issues of older people living with HIV, with programs, studies and projects underway:
SHOP – (Sexual Health and Sexuality for Older People) promotes sexual health information for adults on a global scale. It continues to grow, led by Realize, with a global advisory committee providing feedback and context from their regions.
From this feedback and context, Realize is developing two comprehensive tool kits that will feature community-informed resources focused on pleasure, intimacy, healthy sexuality, and strategies for managing changes in sexual function, as well as HIV/STBBI infection.
The first tool kit will offer diverse resources – such as informational videos, fact sheets, checklists and conversation starters, all tailored to the unique needs of older individuals.
The second toolkit will provide customizable educational materials, including workshop slides, and a facilitator guide to encourage use of the resources in the first toolkit, all adaptable for community-based organizations, policy advocates, and educators.
Both toolkits will be available in six different languages: English, French, Spanish, Swahili, Arabic and Hindi.
PANACHE – The new national PANACHE survey on HIV and aging – which will be in both English and French – is currently in the works, following receipt of research ethics approval in early October. The survey seeks to help address the gaps that exist for older people living with HIV.
Meetings with our national research team and research study working groups have taken place, including those specific to recruitment and survey tool development.
Training and capacity building for our community researchers who will be facilitating the PANACHE survey has been held, and we’re looking forward to train researchers on the survey itself, ahead of its launch.
SHINE – (Sexual Health Informing A New Era) is Realize’s free, 90-minute collaborative workshop designed specifically for HIV, aging and disability organizations. Sexual health is often overlooked for people living with HIV, older adults, and those with disabilities. Attendees will learn how to create a safe space for their clients to discuss sexual health and receive ideas and resources to help initiate such important conversations.
Addison Brash at abrash@realizecanada.org can give you more information or schedule a workshop for your organization.
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FOR HEALTHY AGING WITH HIV – Realize is eager to share the findings of our research study: Financial Empowerment for Healthy Aging in HIV, which has been underway this year. The Ontario-based study has allowed us to engage with older people (50+) living with HIV via online survey. It’s also allowed us to service providers from community-based HIV organizations through focus group discussions, to better understand:
- How aging and older people living with HIV in Ontario characterize their financial empowerment needs.
- Whether information, resources, services, and supports that facilitate greater financial empowerment for this population are readily available and accessible within community-based HIV services.
The findings of this study will enable the research team to make recommendations on how educational programs, support services and policies can be created or adapted in a way that is useful to meet the needs of older adults living with HIV.
We’ll share our findings via e-blasts like this one, and online in spring of 2025, here (remember to bookmark this page!)
We hope this World AIDS Day is a time appreciation for how far we’ve come, a reflection on how much there is still left to be done on this journey together, and a time to honour, remember, and celebrate the countless loved ones we’ve lost along the way.