St. John’ s Cathedral HIV Education Centre 聖約翰座堂「愛之家」諮詢及服務中心 4-8 Garden Road Central, Hong Kong 香港中環花園道 4-8 號 Tel 電話 : (852) Fax 傳真 : (852) 電郵 : Website: WORKING TOGETHER IN ENDING STIGMA, DENIAL, DISCRIMINATION, INACTION AND MIS-ACTION 2013 Ms. Elijah FUNG, Centre Manager St. John’s Cathedral HIV Education Centre, Hong Kong

According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, in 2011 an estimated 34 million people were globally living with HIV, 2.5 million people became newly infected with HIV, and 1.7 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses.

Epidemics are still driven by specific behaviours that put people at higher risk of HIV infection  Nearly 5 million people were living with HIV in South, South-East and East Asia combined in 2011

Key Populations are central to the region’s HIV epidemics  HIV epidemics in Asia and the Pacific remain largely concentrated among injecting drug users, men who have sex with men (MSM) and sex workers. E.g. Injecting drug use in Pakistan (>25%) In Indonesia (>35%) MSM (>15% in Vietnam; 8% in Indonesia and > 5% in Bangladesh, Philippines and Malaysia) Source: “Regional fact sheet 2012, UNAIDS”

 In Papua New Guinea, HIV prevalence rate among sex workers is nearly 20% to a national HIV adult prevalence of about 1%  In Myanmar, almost 10% of sex workers are living with HIV compared to a national prevalence of about 0.5%. Key Populations are central to the region’s HIV epidemics

Stigma and discrimination impeded effective HIV responses  In Myanmar, about 18% of people living with HIV verbally insulted and 10% were physically assaulted as result of their HIV status  In Nepal, about 12% of people living with HIV reported losing a job or income on the basis of their HIV status

Improved laws and policies to protect people living with HIV  Since 2010, China, Fiji and the Republic of Korea have all repealed travel restrictions for people living with HIV, bringing national laws in line with recommended international norms  India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Thailand have put in place programmes to ensure that law enforcement does not act as an obstacle to HIV treatment and prevention

Country-level progress in new HIV infections in Asia Pacific region  Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Myannmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Thailand, the rate of new HIV infections fell by more than 25% between 2001 and 2011  In Bangladesh, Indonesia, The Philippines and Sri Lanka, the HIV infections increased by more than 25% between 2001 and 2011

Data on Migrant workers infected in Sri Lanka

HIV/AIDS & Reproductive health project for Migrant Community in Hong Kong Since 2004, the St. John’s Cathedral HIV Education Centre has been working along side the migrant community in Hong Kong by providing: (1) AIDS & reproductive health talks/workshops/seminars; (2) Outreaching activities: annual AIDS Festival; distributing of AIDS information, condoms and materials; (3) Empowerment e.g. training on patients’ rights, equal opportunities, access to services in Hong Kong;

HIV/AIDS & Reproductive health project for Migrant Community in Hong Kong (4) Conduct research on issues surrounding migration and health; (5) Advocacy Campaign with our international and regional partners such as CARM Asia and its partner organizations in 18 countries; ARROWS for Change, UNAIDS, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), PWRD in Toronto, World Council of Churches (WCC), etc.

The HIV Education Centre of the St. John’s Cathedral (Anglican Church in Hong Kong )  The HIV Education Centre of the St. John’s Cathedral (Anglican Church) was the first faith-based institution to undertake the AIDS ministry in Hong Kong, and it is one of the outreach ministries of the Cathedral. It strives for a zero HIV infection, zero discrimination community since 1995 Services offered by the Centre include:  AIDS & Reproductive health  Sex Education for youth  Research  Interfaith cooperation  Practicum Talk for school youths

HIV/AIDS & Reproductive health project for migrant community in Hong Kong 6% of the total HK population are non- Chinese by ethnicity. Our Centre provides AIDS & reproductive health education to this population. Seminar Information booth AIDS Workshop Health festival for Thai community Workshop on patients’ rights

The AIDS Festival 「愛之節」 ZERO NEW HIV INFECTIONS, ZERO DISCRIMINATION 愛滋病零感染、零歧視 30 teams involved Attracted > 2000 participants - 吸引了 30 團體參與 - 吸引了 2,000 參加者出席

2013 we celebrated The 10 th AIDS Festival in March

Research Projects “Working conditions, relationship with employers and health related quality of life of domestic workers in Hong Kong”, “Health of Our Heroes – Qualitative Study on Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services and Information of Women Migrant Domestic Workers 2010” “Malaysia vs Hong Kong – Employers’ Perception and Attitudes towards Foreign Domestic Workers” 2010 State of Health 2007 – Mandatory Test” State of Health of Migrants 2005 – Access to Health “The Survey report of migrant workers’ AIDS knowledge, attitude and practice in Hong Kong 2003” “The Role of The Christian Church in the AIDS Epidemic-knowledge and attitudes of Hong Kong Christians concerning HIV/AIDS”, 1997 “Survey on Women & AIDS – AIDS knowledge, attitudes, opinions about condom use and practice with spouse or sexual partner (s)”, 1998

International Conferences on AIDS and related issues 參加國際愛滋病相關會議 The Pre-Assembly Forum of People Living with HIV and AIDS met in the Dynasty Hotel Kuala Lumpur April 2010 (hosted by Christian Conference of Asia) Migration Roundtable: Improving migrant workers’ access to HIV-related prevention and health care services, 9-10 March 2011, Malaysia  (hosted by Joint United Nations Initiative on Mobility and HIV/AIDS in South East Asia and supported by United Nations Theme Group on HIV)  The US Government invited our Centre Manager to attend a three-week programme on The Role of NGOs in promoting global women’s issues in  ２０１１年， 美國政府邀請本中心經理馮小姐參與 一個為期三星期的國際領袖項目 -“ 非政府組織在促進 全球婦女問題所扮演的角色 ”  ICAAP 10 “An Inter-religious Pre-conference on HIV/AIDS”, Busan, Korea 2011  Regional Consultation on “Access to Justice for Migrant Workers, 2011  January 2012: Consultation meeting on “ Safe spaces: Transforming faith communities”,  Hosted by World Council of Churches, Geneva

What have we learned? What is the role of the Church?

A Church that listens fosters healthy communities  HIV and AIDS are not just medical issues but have social and communal repercussions  “The Church has to listen  It is only through listening that the Church can follow the example of Jesus, who did not exclude the sick, but embraced them, heard them and healed them,” Erlinda Senturias, former WCC health and healing programme staff