Prevention
By Linda Villarosa
TORONTO -- Musa Njoko’s HIV diagnosis came with the news that she had three months to live. The doctor then instructed her to go home and say goodbye to her family, including her 2-year-old son. Ten years later, she not only survived, but also thrived, becoming one of the first women to disclose her HIV-positive status in her native South Africa. Still the singer and activist stressed that too much about HIV/AIDS and how it affects women and girls across the globe remains strikingly similar to a decade ago. “I still see the same stats and hear the same messages,” said Njoko, 34, whose long braids brushed her shoulders as she spoke at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto. “I am not male bashing, but all of the interventions are still targeted to men. We are the ones who are suffering; we are the ones in crisis.” Njoko joined Melinda Gates, BET co-founder Sheila Johnson and others on a panel entitled “Women on the Frontline in the AIDS Response.” That event was the centerpiece of a day of activities highlighting both the plight and power of women in the world-wide HIV/AIDS pandemic. Almost half of the adults living with HIV today are women, 17.3—over 2 million more than just five years ago, according to UNAIDS. Since 2004, the number of women and girls infected with HIV has increased in every region of the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, women and girls already make up almost 60 percent of adults living with HIV. The theme of the day, and, indeed of the conference is that despite the alarming trends, women are more than victims. “I am not proud to be a woman living with HIV, but I also am not ashamed,” said Njoko. “It is women who have to take the lead to make sure that there are interventions that are empowering to us.” The day’s events kicked off just after 7 a.m. with the first ever march for women officially endorsed by an HIV/AIDS conference. The gathering was lively and spirited, even at the early hour. Over 1,000 women, many carrying signs and most wearing bright gold T-shirts that read “Time to Deliver AIDS Action Now for Women and Girls,” snaked through the streets of downtown Toronto, chanting, singing and accompanied by an international collective of aboriginal drummers. “We have got to let the world know that the lives of women matter,” said Dr. Helene Gayle, president of the International AIDS Society. “It is only with the involvement of women that we are going to have an impact on this pandemic.” Gayle was part of an eclectic round up of pre-march speakers, including Rep. Barbara Lee (D) of California and a number of women living with HIV/AIDS around the world. Later in the day, a group of about half dozen African American women gathered offsite at Toronto City Hall for an intimate, small-group discussion about how HIV/AIDS is affecting black women in America and what to do about it. In each of the past 15 international AIDS conferences, there has been little discussion of HIV among African Americans, particularly women. Those issues have generally been overshadowed by the scope and breadth of the epidemic in Africa and other parts of the world. In the U.S. African-American women represent nearly 70 percent of new HIV cases among women, and AIDS is the leading killer of black women aged 25 to 34. “This is the 16th convention and this is the first time anybody thought to add the African American voice to the conversation,” said entertainer Sheryl Lee Ralph, who is performing her one-woman show, “Sometimes I Cry,” for conference attendees. “It is through human negligence that we are in the state we are in with this disease.” Grazell R. Howard, first vice president of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, issued a challenge. “We as black women in the leadership delegation, have to hold our leaders accountable to our communities to make domestic advocacy for black women in America and their families a priority. The first step is to talk about sexuality and sex, and then finish up with other kinds of action and advocacy.