Hungry for knowledge about HIV in South Africa and the rest of the world, this group of students visited the NAM stand. 

"Slowly, but surely we’re getting there. We don’t want to be a dying nation. That’s why some of us are taking initiatives and getting involved to conquer HIV".  They use aidsmap because they know they can get accurate information about HIV.

Panjasaram is a Pharmacist and Lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.  She uses HATIP regularly and finds it user friendly and relevant to her work.  She keeps copies for reference and uses the information in her lectures to junior staff. To find out more about Panjasaram's work or share experiences of working in HIV contact the School of Pharmacy at UKZN http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ or email her directly at naidoopj@ukzn.ac.za

Carl is the Executive Director of Strategic solutions. He reads HATIP regularly and thinks there are a good variety of articles pitched at the right level.  He would like to see more articles specific to Africa.

Tracy's organisation works with orphans and vulnerable children. They also have an ARV clinic and offer training about HIV & AIDS. She uses a lot of our information to help train the volunteers who work in ARV clinics providing adherence support. She has adapted the NAM booklets, particularly Adherence, and Anti-HIV drugs to use for her work.

 

Ernesto first 'met' NAM at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto.  He subscribes to HATIP and finds the information on resistance very relevent for his work. He refers his colleagues to HATIP but also prints off relevant sections for his patients as he feels it is accessible even without a medical background. To find out more about his work you can contact him at elias@gwisa.com.

 

Webster works for a mining company and helps educate the miners about HIV. He saves each HATIP bulletin so he can refer back to it at a later date and answer questions as they come up. His aim at Impala is to overcome misconceptions and myths about HIV by offering information based on trusted scientific research. To find out more about Impala's HIV information programme email webster.diale@implats.co.za or visit http://www.rtbimplats.co.uk/

Anne and Lebo's organisation provide consultation to corporations who have workplace HIV programmes. She finds HATIP particularly useful when it reports on new drugs and legals issues/ criminalisation. She would like HATIP to include information about workplace programmes and more about private-public partnerships in healthcare. When new staff join the team at Re-Action they are all encouraged to subcsribe to NAM's bulletins to stay up to date with developments. Are you doing similar work to Anne and Lebo? Why not visit their website to find out more and share ideas http://www.re-action.co.za/

Norma visited the stand to tell us that her colleague Arlaine Roberts (Standard Bank) and herself thought NAM's information was 'awesome'. They both have full time jobs, but in their spare time they set up Reiger Park HIV & AIDS Support Group in Bocksburg.  Lactic Acidosis was an article in HATIP that they found particularly useful and clearly written at a time when they could find little else on this subject.

Do you run a support group or are thinking of setting one up? Why not email Norma and Arlaine to find out how they did it. Arlaine.roberts@standardbank.co.za or pagen@ekurhuleni.com.

 

 

Alyson works for the Red Cross in the UK, but spends 70% of her time visiting Red Cross projects overseas. She reads the HATIP articles that the Red Cross librarian work selects. She is particularly interested in advocacy, and patient literacy. She says there is very little patient information aimed produced for individuals in resource-limited settings. Aylson has been involved in the development of a training package which has been produced by the Red Cross in association with WHO and SAFAIDS.

Robin reads every edition of HATIP, and is particularly interested in the information on new drugs that the bulletin offers, because that type of information is not available in South Africa. He would like to see more information for people who are not yet on treatment, because he feels there is little support in South Africa for HIV-positive people who are not yet on ARV treatment.

Sindiswe's organisation runs projects all around the KwaZulu-Natal province. They work with young women, educating and empowering them about HIV & AIDS. Sindiswe finds HATIP really helpful and easy to use.  She passes it on to other organisations in her area.  She finds the conference reporting really valuable as it helps her stay in the loop even when she can't get to the conferences. She would like to see HATIP cover issues on women and violence as she feels this goes 'hand in hand' with dealing with HIV in the community. 

Derrick is a plain language writer, editor and trainer whose organisation, Openly Positive, encourages people with HIV to share their stories and experiences with others to help encourage a more positive understanding of HIV. He discovered NAM 10 years ago and has been visiting our website and using our resources ever since. 

He finds our technical and basic articles very accessible, more so than other medical sites around.

Derrick also assists another support group called Triangle Project. It is the longest standing lesbian and gay organisation in South Africa, offering leaflets, education, testing, counselling, helplines and much more. To find out more then visit http://www.triangle.org.za/