AIDS 2012: Meet the delegates

Marcus Bogie, AIDS Action Council
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We’ve been meeting really interesting people at the NAM stand!

NAM is the official provider of online science news for the 19th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) and we have a great team of writers working on our news reporting.

In addition to sharing the latest research presented in the conference sessions, we’re are also busy sharing information in the exhibition hall.

Glossary

stigma

Social attitudes that suggest that having a particular illness or being in a particular situation is something to be ashamed of. Stigma can be questioned and challenged.

sample

Studies aim to give information that will be applicable to a large group of people (e.g. adults with diagnosed HIV in the UK). Because it is impractical to conduct a study with such a large group, only a sub-group (a sample) takes part in a study. This isn’t a problem as long as the characteristics of the sample are similar to those of the wider group (e.g. in terms of age, gender, CD4 count and years since diagnosis).

referral

A healthcare professional’s recommendation that a person sees another medical specialist or service.

NAM produces a range of HIV information resources and tools, in print and online, covering a variety of subjects and written for different audiences. We’ve been talking to conference delegates about their work and how the information NAM produces supports them, or could support them.

We’ve had some great feedback from people who receive our email bulletins or download resources from our website, including some delegates who have been using our resources and our website for years. We’ve also met people who hadn’t come across us before and were delighted to find useful resources to support them in their work.

For a small sample of the delegates we’ve spoken to, visit our Meet the delegates page. Current featured delegates include:

  • Levinia Crooks, Chief Executive of the Australian Society for HIV Medicine, who is already busy planning for AIDS 2014 in Melbourne.
  • Eric Castellanos, founding member of a collaborative network for people with HIV in Belize.
  • Beverly King, programme co-ordinator at an educational and counselling referral agency in Trinidad & Tobago.
  • Bill Conn, Caribbean Regional PEPFAR Co-ordinator.
  • Alphoncina Kaihura, originally from Tanzania and now in San Francisco studying the effect of stigma on quality of life for African Americans with HIV.
  • Dr Joshua Obasanya, the Nigerian National TB Control Programme Manager.
  • Wen-Ju Chen, a social worker in Taiwan.

And if you’re in DC, drop by! We’re in exhibition hall C, which is just next to the Global Village.