by Xuan-Lan Doan, Life Foundation

The 2nd Regional Pacific Island Jurisdictions AIDS Action Group (PIJAAG) Summit on HIV/AIDS in Pohnpei, Micronesia in April was a tremendous success! The Summit had over 120 participants and featured local and international presenters over the course of three days. Life Foundation’s Pacific Trainer, Peter Tuiolosega Silva, and Pohnpei’s HIV Coordinator, Johnny Hebel, co-chaired this groundbreaking Pacific event and presided over the Summit. The Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) department co-sponsored the event as part of our agency’s mission to fight HIV in Hawai’i and the Pacific.

The theme of the conference, “Pacific In Action: Putting the Pieces Together,” called on participants to strengthen their response to HIV by sharing different perspectives and strategies on HIV prevention, testing, care and treatment, and community planning. PIJAAG is comprised of government and community members from the six U.S. affiliated jurisdictions – American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap and Kosrae), Guam, Republic of Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau.

People living with HIV played a pivotal role throughout the Summit, especially in the opening plenary, which highlighted the lives of Angel Cruz of Guam and Peati Maiava of Samoa. Sessions were strongly led by country participants and provided an ideal setting in which to share the experiences and challenges of implementing HIV programs in their Pacific Island countries.

The meeting was also a key opportunity to increase collaboration between donors and partners, and to bridge the north–south divide that exists in the Pacific HIV arena. “Seeing all the donors and partner agencies focusing on collaboration and discussing how they could coordinate their work was like a dream come true for us at a country level,” said PIJAAG co-chair Hana Ngiruchelbad, of Palau’s Health Ministry.

Primary sponsors of the Summit included AIDS Education and Training Center, Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center, the Government of FSM, GUAHAN Project, Life Foundation, National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, Office of HIV/AIDS Policy, Office of Minority Health Resource Center, Tibotec Therapeutics, and Region IX Office of Women’s Health. In attendance were also various international agencies serving the Pacific, including the AusAID-funded Pacific Regional HIV/AIDS Project, Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation, Secretariat of Pacific Community, and United Nations Population Fund.

Life Foundation would like to send a special mahalo to Mr. Johnny Hebel and the local Pohnpei host committee. The coordination of transportation, lodging venues, and nightly receptions was remarkable.

Xuan-Lan Doan, Life Foundation’s Deputy Director, perhaps best sums up the experience of all who attended, stating “I came back refreshed and re-inspired in the work we do; and we take the lessons and heartache from all those living and passed on from HIV to continue this important work.”