No more AIDS conferences in countries that criminalise HIV
Today, Friday 29th July 2022, saw the opening of the 24th International AIDS Society Conference (AIDS 2022) in Montreal, which slowly began with a ‘water ceremony' - a ritual of the First Nations, the indigenous population of Canada, instigated up an activist protest.
The majority of speakers invited to launch the AIDS 2022 conference highlighted the discriminatory and bureaucratic procedure for issuing visas to conference participants. Many participants, even after engaging in the long visa process, were denied entry to Canada. Even UNAIDS’ Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, faced increased scrutiny on arrival in Canada.
The host of the ceremony, Canadian actor, model, writer and gay activist Omar Sharifa Jr. called the visa procedure “absurd” and added “Canada, we can be better”.
The highlight of the ceremony for us was the protest, which began immediately after the opening words form the event organisers - the International AIDS Society (IAS). A group of activists with posters took to the stage, chanting “Give us a stage! People are dying! This is our conference! This is a conference for the community!”
"We do not welcome the decision of ViiV Healthcare and the Patent Pool. HIV prevention tools should be available to everyone without exception!" said one activist.
The activists listed their demands as follows:
- Affordable diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis and cryptococcal infection
- Equitable access to vaccination programs
- Provision of all available types of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)
- Decriminalisation of HIV
- Equitable access to HIV treatment, care and support
- Increased funding for HIV programmes
Finally, the activists demanded that future AIDS conferences should no longer be held in countries where there is racism, where sex work, drug use and HIV continue to be criminalised.
