HIV and AIDS

Glaxo
Supporting the community responseThe world has been confronting AIDS for over 25 years. In that time over 20 million people have died and another 33 million are estimated to be living with HIV today.

Although we understand how HIV transmission can be prevented, and antiretroviral (ARV) treatments have dramatically extended life for some, there is still no cure, no vaccine, and no short cut to accessing effective healthcare for the millions affected who live with poverty, stigma and little care or support.

We established Positive Action in 1992, an early recognition of the pivotal role played by communities in responding to the world's HIV and AIDS epidemics. Since then the programme has supported projects that strengthen these communities' responses and encourage greater involvement of people living with HIV and AIDS.

Positive Action has enabled:

• 8,000 community and healthcare workers to be trained in East Africa
• 40,000 community delegates to participate at regional and international conferences
• 70 clinics in Kenya to develop their community links to improve ARV provision
• 8,500 healthcare professionals in 173 countries to have access to HIV and AIDS training toolkits
• 100 policemen in central Mexico to receive human rights training
• Prevention messages for 3 million women and family members in rural India by 2008

Positive Action at International AIDS Conferences
GlaxoSmithKline’s Positive Action was the principal sponsor of the Global Village at AIDS2006. The Global Village was an interactive and participatory community space that aimed to engage, challenge and inspire. It was the first point of contact for delegates as they entered the conference venue each day and it was also open to the general public.

In addition to its support for the Global Village, Positive Action and our partners hosted a number of community forums and skills-building workshops where community delegates could share experiences, learning from each other and from experts to increase their effectiveness and ability to respond to the changing epidemic and socio-political environment.

Following on from the success in Canada Positive Action is looking forward to supporting the AIDS2008 conference in Mexico.