Maxwell Ciardullo's blog

Thanks to Karen Hardee of Population Action International (PAI), who presented today on the "Getting Our Voices Heard: Shaping Public Policy" panel, I now know that the ABCs (Abstinence, Be Faithful, use Condoms) of HIV prevention were not originally a half-brained concoction of the Bush administration. However, her presentation also prompted thoughts about the limitations of public health approaches.

As it turns out, the ABCs can be traced to a few different sources, including a mid-80s STD prevention program from Ohio, a Tanzanian HIV-prevention campaign from the early 90s, and basic public health and epidemiologic building blocks. At the root of the ABCs are three simple ideas:
- Avoid exposure
- Reduce exposure
- Block exposure

And the Tanzanian campaign, run by a Catholic priest, interpreted these messages into the "AIDS is a flood" campaign. Each HIV-prevention method was represented by a lifeboat with one boat for abstinence, one boat for monogamy with an uninfected partner, and one boat for consistent condom use. The campaign was also clear that each individual was free to choose what lifeboat was right for them and could switch boats at any point as their life circumstances changed.
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For those who didn't make it out of bed at 5am, or whatever ungodly hour you might have to get up to make it to Banamex by 7am, you missed out on some of the best IAC swag available so far courtesy of the Saddleback Church and its leaders Rick and Kay Warren. You also missed out on some very pointed questions during the Q&A about the Church's HIV/AIDS work in Rwanda and its lack of emphasis on prevention, resistance to condom distribution, and narrow theology of sexuality.

The Warrens are the leaders of the Saddleback empire, which includes their 22,000 member church in Orange County, CA, numerous national and international programs, regular speaking tours, Rick's bestselling book, The Purpose Driven Life, and Kay's book, Dangerous Surrender. Rick will also be hosting both US Presidential candidates for a two hour "Compassion and Leadership" forum next week on network TV.  read more »

Hola companeros. This is my first blog of the conference, so I thought I'd open with a question. Not my question though...this one actually came from UNAIDS chief, Peter Piot during his keynote at the MSM pre-conference. In his remarks, Piot urged the audience not to forget HIV prevention activism, reminding us that it was the gay community in the 80s that invented it.

So what do you think folks? Has prevention activism been waning? Does it need a revival?

In my day job as a sexuality education advocate, I can report that in the US prevention advocacy around sexuality and HIV education is certainly alive and well. Advocacy is slightly different from activism, but the activism still pops up in local stories about students pinning condoms to their shirts in schools that teach abstinence-only-until-marriage programs or parents mounting a honk-and-wave campaign for responsible sex ed.

I should also give a hat tip here to CHAMP, who has been carrying the banner of prevention activism and prevention justice since it's inception.  read more »