 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
California State Assembly
California State Senate
City of LA AIDS Coordinator
LA County Board of Supervisors
LA County Commission on HIV
LA County OAPP
State Office of AIDS
California State Senate
City of LA AIDS Coordinator
LA County Board of Supervisors
LA County Commission on HIV
LA County OAPP
State Office of AIDS
| Welcome to the HIV/AIDS Community Journal! The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for those impacted by the HIV epidemic and has published this journal to provide you with the latest information on HIV/AIDS. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
Government
Additional Resources
ACT NOW AGAINST METH
AIDS VOTE.ORG
AIDS WATCH
CHAMP
HARM REDUCTION COALITION
NATIONAL AIDS STRATEGY
NAPWA
PREVENTION JUSTICE MOBILIZATION
SHAC
AIDS VOTE.ORG
AIDS WATCH
CHAMP
HARM REDUCTION COALITION
NATIONAL AIDS STRATEGY
NAPWA
PREVENTION JUSTICE MOBILIZATION
SHAC
| Save A Life. Support Our Mission. |
--------------------------------------------------------
| READ MORE AND SIGN THE PETITION HERE |
--------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
STOPPING AIDS THROUGH UNITY & ACTION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We are united in demanding leadership in the fight
against HIV/AIDS and justice in prevention policies.
HIV prevention efforts have focused on individual behavior, ignoring the fact that
individuals from different communities can engage in the same activities but be at
much different levels of risk for HIV. It is the paradox that we grapple with trying to
understand why certain communities bear such a disproportionate burden of HIV
while others, even though they have the same levels of “individual risk activity,” do
not.
Traditional interventions focus on identifying and changing the individual behaviors
that contribute to the spread of the virus. These efforts include examining “risk
factors” (other behaviors or traits that increase the odds of practicing risk behaviors)
—populations that are most likely to engage in these behaviors and the level at
which they lead to greater transmissions among individuals.
However, these efforts failed to achieve the CDC's goal of reducing HIV
transmission by half. In fact, in some communities, HIV/AIDS rates may once
again be on the rise. This does not mean that prevention efforts do not work
– but it does mean that we must both scale up existing strategies and invest
in innovative new approaches.
Appropriate prevention policies are vital for the health, rights and dignity of all
people, including people living with HIV. In order to address HIV from a
prevention justice standpoint to lower HIV risks, we must examine why certain
groups are at such heightened risk for HIV and the social/structural conditions
that drive that risk. Social and structural risk factors are sometimes
acknowledged in programs, research, and policies but only as a footnote or
sidebar comment (e.g. noting the role of homophobia or poverty). What would
our research, programs, and policies look like if they centered around finding
solutions to these very real structural issues? Currently, we have little in the
way of assessment tools, prevention or intervention strategies that address the
structural, social and systemic problems that increase the risks for certain groups
of individuals more than others.
A prevention justice approach calls for the evaluation of societal factors as well as
the individual behaviors that heighten the risk for HIV transmission or acquisition. A
prevention justice approach incorporates both individual and structural approaches
for more effective HIV prevention strategies. And a prevention justice approach
recognizes that the involvement, the rights and the dignity of people living with HIV
are just as important and integral to the success of HIV prevention as efforts
focused on people who are HIV negative. We urgently need theories, assessment
tools and hybrid prevention strategies that address risk in the context of vulnerability
and that directly address the root causes of vulnerability.
against HIV/AIDS and justice in prevention policies.
HIV prevention efforts have focused on individual behavior, ignoring the fact that
individuals from different communities can engage in the same activities but be at
much different levels of risk for HIV. It is the paradox that we grapple with trying to
understand why certain communities bear such a disproportionate burden of HIV
while others, even though they have the same levels of “individual risk activity,” do
not.
Traditional interventions focus on identifying and changing the individual behaviors
that contribute to the spread of the virus. These efforts include examining “risk
factors” (other behaviors or traits that increase the odds of practicing risk behaviors)
—populations that are most likely to engage in these behaviors and the level at
which they lead to greater transmissions among individuals.
However, these efforts failed to achieve the CDC's goal of reducing HIV
transmission by half. In fact, in some communities, HIV/AIDS rates may once
again be on the rise. This does not mean that prevention efforts do not work
– but it does mean that we must both scale up existing strategies and invest
in innovative new approaches.
Appropriate prevention policies are vital for the health, rights and dignity of all
people, including people living with HIV. In order to address HIV from a
prevention justice standpoint to lower HIV risks, we must examine why certain
groups are at such heightened risk for HIV and the social/structural conditions
that drive that risk. Social and structural risk factors are sometimes
acknowledged in programs, research, and policies but only as a footnote or
sidebar comment (e.g. noting the role of homophobia or poverty). What would
our research, programs, and policies look like if they centered around finding
solutions to these very real structural issues? Currently, we have little in the
way of assessment tools, prevention or intervention strategies that address the
structural, social and systemic problems that increase the risks for certain groups
of individuals more than others.
A prevention justice approach calls for the evaluation of societal factors as well as
the individual behaviors that heighten the risk for HIV transmission or acquisition. A
prevention justice approach incorporates both individual and structural approaches
for more effective HIV prevention strategies. And a prevention justice approach
recognizes that the involvement, the rights and the dignity of people living with HIV
are just as important and integral to the success of HIV prevention as efforts
focused on people who are HIV negative. We urgently need theories, assessment
tools and hybrid prevention strategies that address risk in the context of vulnerability
and that directly address the root causes of vulnerability.
| CLICK HERE TO GET INVOLVED! |
Copyright 2008. The Friends of AIDS Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
| HIV/AIDS COMMUNITY JOURNAL |
The Friends of AIDS Foundation
< back