Lighting Candles
By Diane Macpherson - HIVAN Media Office
 Winston Churchill once said: "If you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it." Today, these words are particularly relevant in the context of HIV/AIDS, where knowledge is power. Knowledge has the ability to diffuse panic, empower those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS and even to save lives.
We at HIVAN have built a website which, we hope, will light a few candles amongst our users. Whether it's networking you're after, or funding information or news - we hope to be able to help you increase your knowledge. We would also like to offer our Discussion Boards as another tool with which you can share your own wisdom and experiences.
You can discuss and debate HIV/AIDS-related news and current affairs, share your insights and experience of working in the HIV/AIDS field, talk about care and treatment, or what it's like to live with HIV/AIDS. If you're in the science field, you can even contribute your expertise in the Research category, or pose a question that an expert out there can answer.
At first glance, the Discussion Boards may seem complex and intimidating to navigate. But, with a little trial and error (and some handy hints) we hope you'll find it useful and user-friendly - and, most importantly - something you visit every day!
For the most part, you can either access the Discussion Boards anonymously or as a registered user. The only exception is the Research area - for which you need to be registered to post messages. The logic behind this is that we want you to be able to validate and verify sources of information.
All other aspects of the site do not require you to be registered. You simply click on Post a Reply  , or New Topic  and you're "A" for away!
However, there are advantages to being a registered user; for example, you can opt to be e-mailed when another registered user replies to your post, you can opt to receive e-mails from others, display your website address where applicable and much more!
Although our website has only been "live" for a short while, there are already a number of interesting topics on the Discussion Boards.
 Here is a selection of what has already been posted:
KwaZulu-Natal is "&very interested in the issue of virginity testing in SA, and particularly in KZN, and would like to hear other peoples viewpoints on this practise. I am personally against virginity testing - as I feel there are far too many inconsistencies/ no scientific basis for declaring participants virgins or not. What do others think?"
Falethu speaks of caring: "Most of us think of care as nursing the relative who is already on his deathbed, but it's more than that. It begins with the acceptance of my friend or sister and allowing them to live a normal life after diagnosis. It is such care that will remove the fear of testing and revealing one's status. The anger and denial that causes some to deliberately infect others can also be cut short if we care. We need to start by adopting the right attitude so that our friends may know who to run to when they need that care."
Hitesh wants some information: "I would like to get information on the HIVNET 012 - Phase 1 Nevirapine - Site in Uganda. My curiosity stems from the hype made about the drug a few weeks ago over its toxicity/poor QA and QC? I also understand that FHI was audited (FDA audit) preceding this? Any news about this?"
Gill is concerned in lack of collaboration on the research side: "There is a huge effort (both in time and money) being done to find a vaccine for the virus. But how well co-ordinated are these efforts. Are researchers more interested in being the first, have they lost the main purpose for the quest?"
 Pat Hlongwane speaks of disclosure and acceptance - in a moving account detailing his own experiences: "Anyone who has ever received an HIV positive diagnosis faces difficult decisions about telling people about their HIV status. It can take time to come to terms with a positive HIV- diagnosis. Don't feel you have to rush into coping or telling people. You may not tell anyone at first and then find people you feel you can trust. You may tell only the person closest to you. Even if you have the urge to tell people right away, it's a good idea to wait a bit and think about what the consequences might be. Some HIV-positive people are able to be completely open about their HIV status. Others aren't. Whatever the case, in some situations it is better to be cautious. Unfortunately for many HIV-positive people, the choice of whether or not they disclose their status is taken out of their hands. Any involuntary disclosure is a breach of confidentiality. Being HIV-positive is no reflection on your worth as a human being.
HIV is a virus and nothing to be ashamed of. Unfortunately there are still far too many ignorant and prejudiced people in the world who judge other people for being HIV +." (Extract)
We hope you will take the time to explore, read and contribute to - the Discussion Boards. After all, as James Madison said: "The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty."
The Discussion Board link can be found on the righthand side of the front page of this website, or click here for a shortcut!
Click on the links below for past Editorials/ Guest Editorials
May 2002 Editorial
June 2002 Guest Editorial
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