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"On The Cusp: HIV/AIDS - Chaos or Survival" - University of KwaZulu-Natal HIV/AIDS Debates
HIVAN/School of Development Studies and UKZN Release. 11 October 2006.
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The School of Development Studies (SDS), UKZN and the Centre for HIV & AIDS Networking (HIVAN) have pleasure in inviting you to attend the opening panel of a series of high level forums that will debate issues of current controversy and public concern in HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
The series will take place during October and November this year, ending on World AIDS Day on the 1st December. The central aim of the series is to build a broad based, holistic and integrated assessment of the diverse facets of the disease and its current and possible future repercussions on the country and its people.
The opening event will take place at Howard College Theatre, UKZN on October 23rd 2006, 19:30, and is entitled: What do the South African AIDS Statistics really mean?
Negotiating the way through, let alone understanding, the implications of the plethora of AIDS statistics in South Africa, is often challenging ?– and it can be downright confusing. The panelists are experts in their field and will lay a firm and unambiguous foundation for the debates that follow.
This opening event will be chaired by Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, UKZN's Vice-Chancellor and participants include Prof Alan Whiteside (HEARD), Dr Leikness Simbayi (HSRC), Mr Chris Desmond (HSRC), Prof Salim Karim (UKZN) and Mr Hein Marais.
The second debate will be held at the Howard College Theatre, UKZN on 30 October 2006 at 19h00pm. The topic will be Culture: AIDS Chaos or Survival?The notion of ?‘Culture?’ is seldom far from discussions of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. We ask the hard questions: Is culture used to mask an unwillingness to change high risk behaviour? Alternatively, does it offer a potent way to package and promote treatment strategies and options? Are traditional healers in the forefront of the battle to save lives? Should we combine western and traditional medical traditions and training and if so, how?
This debate will be chaired by John Perlman and panelists include: Ms Mandisa Mbali, Prof Paulus Zulu, Prof Pitika Ntuli and Ms Nomboniso Gasa.
The third debate will be held at the Howard College Theatre, University of KwaZulu-Natal, on 17 November 2006. The topic will be HIV/AIDS: A tougher stance needed for survival: Testing and Treatment.This debate moves unambiguously into the arena of HIV/AIDS survival through prevention and care. Should testing be mandatory instead of voluntary as at present? If so, what of personal choice and Human Rights, both of which are valued very highly in South Africa and enshrined in the Constitution? We also pose the difficult question of whether people who are not adhering to their treatment regime, should be denied access to further ARVs.
This debate will be chaired by John Perlman and panelists will include Mr Chris Molakatsie(UKZN), Prof David McQuoid-Mason (UKZN), Prof Salim Karim (UKZN) and Prof Debbie Posel (WISER - WITS).
The fourth debate will also be held at the Susser and Stein Seminar Room, Medical School, University of KwaZulu-Natal and the topic will focus on Towards Survival? Developing Policy to meet the challenges of the epidemic.To be held on World AIDS Day, four to five noted experts in policy formation will put forward and later debate the merits of ONE chosen policy which they believe will have the greatest single impact on the South African AIDS epidemic over the next five years. The objective is to develop a ?‘basket of policy recommendations?’ to be taken forward to the final session of the series in which the policies will be debated with decision and policy makers in early 2007.
Also to be chaired by John Perlman, this debate will include the following participants: Prof Quarraisha Karim, Prof Helen Reece, Prof Alan Whiteside, Dr David Harrison, Dr Koleka Mlisana and Mr Hein Marais. This debate will also feature an introduction by Prof John Butler-Adam, of the Ford Foundation.
In order to provide wide access to the debates, each debate will be broadcast over the Internet. To access the live or delayed format broadcasts, please visit: http://www.aidsdebate.ukzn.ac.za. A chat room has also been created to allow wide input on each debate topic. A DVD of each debate can also be purchased for R70, and the monies received from this will be used for the DVD production and channelled towards the Debates series.
For more information on these events, please contact Shannon Moffett on: Tel 031 261 7148/079 491 6096 or [email protected] |
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