A&PI Wellness Center Commemorates World AIDS Day

Lance Toma with panelists Anna Rivera, Naina Khanna and Dr. Tri Do

On December 1, 2009, A&PI Wellness Center convened an expert panel, participated in AIDS.GOV’s “Facing AIDS” Campaign, and was on the radio as part of its World AIDS Day activities. The 2009 World AIDS Day theme was “Universal Access.” In the spirit of this year’s theme, the panel discussion was entitled, “Right to Access: Emerging Challenges for Emerging Populations.”

The question of emerging populations and HIV treatment is of particular importance for A&PIs. Of the A&PIs living with HIV in the US, it is estimated that 60% are foreign-born. One-quarter of all A&PIs in the US are foreign-born, with China having the largest immigrant population in the US after Mexico.

In the general population, as well as among A&PIs, women and transgender women are becoming emerging populations. The HIV infection rate for heterosexual A&PI women was 42% at the end of 2001. Nationally, it is estimated that 27% of transgender women have HIV. In San Francisco, a 2004 study estimated that 27% of A&PI transgender women have HIV.

The panel was moderated by Lance Toma, Executive Director of A&PI Wellness Center. Panelists were Dr. Tri Do, of the University of California San Francisco’s Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, Anna Rivera, Vice President of Bay Area Young Positives, and Naina Khanna, Director of Policy and Community Organizing at Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases (WORLD).

The panelists answered questions about their own HIV status, and how they found out they were HIV-positive. Also discussed were changes to the HIV travel ban, reaching both recent legal and undocumented immigrants who may not perceive themselves at risk for HIV, as well as provider competence and stigma.

Attendees were invited to participate in the AIDS.GOV World AIDS Day campaign called “Facing AIDS.” Over 800 people from across the country participated by filling out a message card and uploading a photo to AIDS.GOV’s Flickr page. You can read more about the different organizations that participated, as well as check out some photos and a video about Facing AIDS on the AIDS.GOV blog.

We also hit the airwaves on World AIDS Day! Lina Sheth, Director of Community Development & External Affairs at A&PI Wellness Center was on KALW 91.7 FM’s show “Your Call.” The show featured an intergenerational discussion of HIV/AIDS and where we’ve come from since the 1980s and where we’re going in the future. You can listen to the show online through Your Call’s blog.