Talking HIV

The MRC KwaZulu-Natal AIDS Forum is alive and well and spreading the word about HIV/AIDS. MARLIJN VAN BERNE, coordinator of the forum, gives an overview of what they're all about.

The Medical Research Council of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal AIDS Forum is one of the MRC's vibrant drives into the area of HIV/AIDS community mobilisation and advocacy.

Launched three years ago in Durban, the AIDS Forum aims to close the gap between science and the community. We do this through monthly public platforms that give all the people involved an opportunity to discuss issues pertinent to the way in which the people of South Africa respond to the epidemic. Thus, the AIDS Forum strives to improve communication and networking among community members, which include Government, civil society, journalists and the community at large.

Looking back on the past two years, the AIDS Forum has surpassed all expectations, in particular with our move beyond the original forum platform in Durban to two additional venues in Pietermaritzburg and Mtunzini on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast.

This 'reaching out' into the province has been welcomed with much enthusiasm, especially from more rural communities. To further boost our mandate and implement an AIDS Forum in each health district, we recently launched a fourth forum in the Umkhanykude District at the Africa Centre. Our hope is to establish one forum per one or two health districts in the province over the next seven years.

What makes the forum unique is the fact that, through the evaluation of annual needs-assessment questionnaires, we ensure that each forum addresses the specific needs of its members. The emphasis is on providing relevant information rather than taking a dictatorial position.

The necessity of developing the forum at local and regional levels has also resulted in two very new and exciting collaborations with HIVAN (the Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking) in Durban and AfroAIDSinfo (www.afroaidsinfo.org) the HIV/AIDS internet information portal for southern Africa, which is based at the MRC in Cape Town.

The AIDS Forum has also been substantially supported by our outgoing sponsor, JOHAP (Joint OXFAM HIV/AIDS Programme), and we are happy to welcome our new sponsor and partner, SAAVI (the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative). This new partnership will give forum members more access to information about cutting-edge HIV vaccine science, clinical and community research and related issues. Hosted by HIVAN, the AIDS Forum has launched a user-friendly and comprehensive AIDS Forum mini-website, located at www. hivan. org. za. This venture is based on the belief that, by pooling our resources, we can enhance networking between organisations and individuals in the HIV/AIDS arena. Being informed equals being armed - which requires improved communication and networking with partner organisations that hold a similar vision. The AIDS Forum relies heavily on its ability to provide up-to-date and accurate information. Some of our strategies include the mini-website and the production of a quarterly electronic (and printed) newsletter, which elaborates on upcoming or past forum topics. Discussion topics and presentations are further disseminated through the Daily News, a KwaZulu-Natal-based daily newspaper, which hosts a page dedicated solely to the AIDS Forum in their monthly Department of Health-sponsored health supplement.

Some statistics

Forum size:
average attendance of 35 members per topic x 4 venues = 140 members per forum topic Female to male ratio: 5: 1 Largest forum attendance for one topic: 158 (fundraising in the HIV context)

Other information
If forum members indicate the need for a further in-depth look at a specific topic, depending on funding, we will host a workshop or skills-building session.

The 2003 'top four' topics of interest were as follows:

• Prevention 43,75%
• Treatment and tests 33,3%
• Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) 16,6%
• Economic cost of HIV 16,6%

The 2004 'top four' topics of interest are:

• Prevention 21,1%
• ARV roll-out 17,7%
• Research & vaccines 12,5%
• Gender issues & violence 10,8%