Kobe AIDS conference, July 2005

The name of this website, Asiafrica: Linking the Two Continents, reflects its aim of creating space for news, information and material around the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Asia and Africa, linkages between them and lessons that the two regions can learn from each other.

This website has its roots in the vibrancy of community, arts and other groups from Africa and Asiathat found a venue to chat, discuss and compare notes during the activities of the Africa-Asia Interaction on AIDS initiative (supported by the Bangkok and Nairobi offices of the Rockefeller Foundation) at the XV International AIDS Conference held in Bangkok, Thailand in July 2004. more

This site is a joint project of the:


IPS ASIA-PACIFIC

Q/A | FERDINAND BLEKA
Communities, Not Just Drugs, Needed in Fighting AIDS

HIV/AIDS cannot just be fought through medicine but by communities — and this where Africa and Asia can draw on their strengths, says Ferdinand Bleka, chairman of the AFRIJAPAN Foundation based in Cote d' Ivoire, in a chat with Inter Press Service Asia-Pacific's Suvendrini Kakuchi. more

THAILAND
Positive Kids Fear Negative Effect of Ignorant Good Samaritans
by Sutthida Malikaew

BANGKOK — Thailand is a country with perhaps the most experience in Asia in dealing with HIV/AIDS. It's national AIDS programme is regularly cited as an example of successful intervention. more

THAILAND
'I Want to Reach the Star of Hope'
by Sutthida Malikaew

BANGKOK — New (not her real name), a 15 year-old girl living with HIV, never knew she could draw, much less realise that she actually enjoys drawing. But these days, drawing is how New expresses herself. It soothes her volatile nerves and calms her inner fire. more

CHINA
Slowly, Transforming the Party Line on AIDS
by Ma Guihua and Lin Gu, Beijing*

Prof. Jin Wei had never been as touched by a conference the way she was during the XV International AIDS Conference in July 2004 in Thailand. Sitting among tens of thousands of people inside the stadium where the conference was held, Jin witnessed U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan light a candle in the darkness, which was subsequently broken by numerous flashlights that lit up and dotted the whole venue. more

COMMENTARY
Reaching out to MSM: Crossing Gender Boundaries at a Time of AIDS
by Jomar Fleras, Manila*

Mark is a 29-year-old married man who works as a manager in the personnel department of a bank in Makati City, the Philippines. Before driving back to his middle-class suburban house south of Makati, where his wife and one- year-old son await him, he whiles away his time by cruising the men's comfort rooms in a premier shopping mall near his office. more

ZIMBABWE
Disabled at Greater Risk of HIV Infection
by Tafi Murinzi, Bulawayo

''Do you think I can go for an HIV test and be accepted?" Zitha scoffs at the suggestion. more

SOUTH AFRICA
Subsistence Farmers, Affected by HIV/AIDS, Find Too Little Help
by Kristin Palitza, Durban

Subsistence agriculture makes for a hard life, particularly in areas that are badly hit by HIV. Put farming and AIDS together, add drought or disease, and you have a diabolical mixture of circumstances. more

Drug Users Get a Voice
by Zofeen Ebrahim, Karachi

"We've done enough of research, we've asked enough questions and have all the answers and the evidence. We know what doesn't work for the 3.3 million injecting drug users (IDUs) in the Asia-Pacific region. Messages like 'say no to drugs or calling for 'a drug-free world' certainly don't," said 47-year old Tariq Zafar, call the spread of HIV/AIDS an "IDU-ignited epidemic in Asia". more

THAILAND
HIV/AIDS Stalks Burmese Migrant Workers
by Marwaan Macan-Markar, Samut Sakhon

Fear drove Ma Ne from her home in Burma's Mon state to this port town famous for its seafood processing factories. She wanted to escape the forced labour policy of the Burmese military regime. more