AIT American Cultural Center to Address Compassionate Treatment for HIV/AIDS Victims

PR0663E | Date: 2006-12-07

In celebration of World AIDS Day, AIT's American Cultural Center will hold a Digital Video Conference (DVC) entitled "Compassionate Treatment for People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA)" on Tuesday, December 12, 2006  from 9 to 11 a.m.  This special event is free and open to the public.

Regan Hofmann, the editor-in-chief of POZ Magazine and American AIDS activist, will discuss the challenges of living with HIV and efforts in the United States to counteract the pervasiveness of stigmatizing attitudes and beliefs concerning PLWHA.   Dr. Anthony Pramualratana, the executive director of the Asian Business Coalition on HIV & AIDS, will discuss recent successful efforts by many companies in Asia to address stigma in the workplace through their Corporate Social Responsibility programs.

Taiwan panelists for the video conference include Twu Shiing-jer, the chairman of the Taiwan AIDS Foundation; Nicole Yang, the founder of the Harmony Home Association; and Yang Chin-hui, Chief Medical Officer, Taiwan Centers for Disease Control.

HIV/AIDS-related stigma poses a threat to the physical and psychological well-being of those living with this disease.  Moreover, HIV/AIDS-related stigma affects public support for government policies as well as government support for HIV/AIDS-education programs.  It also affects the willingness of individuals and entire communities at risk to acknowledge AIDS as a problem and to initiate prevention programs.

This DVC program will be held simultaneously at the American Cultural Center in Taipei (Room 2101, 21F, No. 333, Keelung Road, Section 1, Taipei) and the American Institute in Taiwan's Kaohsiung Branch Office (5th Floor, #2 Chung Cheng 3rd Road, Kaohsiung).   The DVC will be conducted in English with simultaneous interpretation.  A live webcast is available at http://webcast.ait.org.tw/LiveWebcast.asp.  For more information, please log on to www.ait.org.tw.

Members of the media who are interested in covering the DVC are encouraged to register with AIT's Public Affairs Section at 2162-2037; fax 2162-2242; e-mail: aitpress@mail.ait.org.tw.

To reserve a seat for this DVC program, please contact Szu Lee at American Cultural Center at 2723-3959 ext. 230; fax: 2725-2644; e-mail: Taipei@mail.ait.org.tw.