August 15, 2006
XVI International AIDS Conference Opening Gala
The opening gala for the XVI International AIDS Conference was held Sunday night at the Rogers Centre.
Along with the abundance of entertainment, many sobering speeches were made about just how serious this pandemic is (45 million infected with HIV/AIDS worldwide) and what needs to be done to fight this battle. Keynote speeches were given by Bill & Melinda Gates, whose message -- in simplified terms -- was that women need to be empowered to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS infection at the hands of their partners. Most women in third world countries remain powerless to maintain their health, due to dominance of men in their cultures.
"We need tools that will allow women to protect themselves," Bill Gates said. "This is true whether the woman is a faithful mother of small children or a sex worker trying to scrape out a living in a slum. No matter where she lives, who she is, or what she does, a woman should never need her partner's permission to save her own life."
Advocating for widespread use of condoms, Melinda Gates stated, "Some people believe that condoms encourage sexual activity, so they want to make them less available. But withholding condoms does not mean fewer people have sex; it means fewer people have safe sex and more people die." Receiving resounding applause, this statement was as simple, yet effective, as it gets.
Unfortunately, the message of the evening was somewhat upstaged by the disgraceful fact that our Prime Minister was a no-show. This is the biggest AIDS conference in history, with over 24,000 delegates in attendance, and yet Stephen Harper erroneously decided it was more important to discuss building a military training base in Iqaluit this week. While this may also be pressing, could he not have scheduled this on another date? Did he not know about this conference since the beginning of his term as PM? What a shameful mistake.
To watch all or part of Sunday's opening session, visit here, where you can download video and podcast feeds. The conference runs from Aug. 13-18, and the Global Village is open to the public all week.
Photos by Carrie Musgrave. To view more, please visit Flickr. More photos will be added throughout the week.
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One of the most tragic things is that an entire continent is virtually stricken with this epidemic and we still can't get proper drugs over there. We forget because we don't see it, and we in the West are the ones reaping the benefits from the science.
For those in the First World, HIV is something that no longer drastically effects one's lifespan. In the Third World, the exact same virus that can be treated with the exact same drugs massacres the population before many enter proper adulthood.
The immediate issues are with the drug companies and insufficient world government reaction, but the long-term scourge is rooted in homophobia and selective moralism. Where are the churches and organized religions at this event who theoretically should be leading the charge and spurring their voluminous congregations into action?
HIV is not seen as a "good people's virus" and some day, humanity will look back in shame that it was ever allowed to progress so far.
"While this may also be pressing, could he not have scheduled this on another date?" --
Please explain how on earth that could be pressing.
(Ben, I think that statement was most certainly sarcasm).
Key word here: MAY. ;)
Seems to me it was just an excuse to get as far away from Toronto as humanly possible.
What's bad for Stephen Harper's image is good for Canada's future.
my bad!
I like the "excuse to get as far away from Toronto as humanly possible." comment.
Well done, Carie!