Asia Pacific AIDS & Co-infections Conference 2018 PLWHIV

I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to attend the APACC conference. It has been a very inspiring conference, motivating and very relevant to my practice. The key themes throughout the conference are applicable and relevant in the Australian context. Concerns about confidentiality, stigma and discrimination from people at risk of, or living with HIV, are present within the Asia Pacific region. It is humbling to see the difficulties faced by affected communities throughout the region and the significant challenges of funding, discrimination, poverty, access to inclusive healthcare and treatment. However, it is invigorating to see the passion, dedication and creativity of communities and health care providers to provide these services in their culturally diverse settings.

Reena Rajasuriar

This study looked at the prevalence, risk factors and health outcomes of depression and anxiety in PLHIV compared to matched controls. Reena stated that mental health issues were under reported and therefore under diagnosed and sadly under treated. She studied the issues of frailty in HIV positive older people and wanted to establish if there were interventions that could be used with young PLHIV to prevent mental health issues and frailty into the future.

Panel Discussion

 As a conclusion to the APACC 2018 conference, this discussion was a fantastic example of the learning that can happen when clinicians, researchers, advocates and PLHIV come together and share their work and ideas. 

Why we need KPLHS to end AIDS in the Asia Pacific

Michael Cassell FHI 360 Thailand 

I am aware of some social media and mHealth interventions being implemented in Australia, but I had no idea of the enormity of the potential impact, and the range of ways in which these technologies can be used for HIV prevention, management, and improvement in quality of life for people who are HIV positive. It was mind-blowing to hear from one of the presenters that more than 1 billion people are active social media users, and how that reach can be optimised for the benefit of those at risk of or diagnosed with HIV. I found this fascinating, as like many clinicians, I have imagined social media to be helpful, but no idea how it can be harnessed, or whether there is actual evidence for its efficacy.

Sepi Maulana Ardiansyah is a National Coordinator of Indonesia Young Key Population Network and talked frorm a personal and professional perspective about living with HIV and the challenges of being MSM in Indonesia. His presentation was from the heart and showed his passion and his concerns about the negative effect of stigma, discrimination and abuse towards MSM and people living with HIV in his own country.

Day one at APAAC 2018 drew to a close with a discussion regarding the recently issued WHO statement regarding the safety of dolutegravir in pregnancy.

• WHO statement and Q&A on potential safety issue related with DTG [23 May 2018]

• BHIVA statement on Potential Safety Signal in Infants Born to Women Conceiving on Dolutegravir (on behalf of the BHIVA HIV in Pregnancy Guidelines Committee) [22 May 2018]

Professor Cooper recognised very early on that to be effective in delivering HIV treatment you had to include the community affected. Thanks to his dedication and insight and the same by countless others involved in HIV research and treatment initiatives all over the world, this approach is more widely being recognised and utilised in many key populations.