Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — The International AIDS Society will reassess the way it organizes international conferences following visa refusals by the Canadian government, the organization’s president said on Friday.
His comments came as Canadian International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan canceled his scheduled address to the conference.
Adeeba Kamarulzaman told attendees at the opening ceremony of the AIDS 2022 conference that she was “deeply upset by the high number of refusals and pending visas which prevented many registered delegates, including staff and management of the International AIDS Society to enter Canada”.
She added that the International AIDS Society, the association of professionals that organizes the conference, wants to ensure that its conferences include the communities most affected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
“We know that underlying the difficulty many participants experience in entering Canada is a broader issue of global inequity and systemic racism that has a significant impact on global health,” she said. . HIV, in particular, has always disproportionately affected the most marginalized.”
Other speakers were highly critical of Canada’s visa policies. Activist and writer Tim McCaskill told attendees that if countries like Canada are unable to allow “all stakeholders” to attend, “then we need to hold these conferences in places that are. “.
During the opening ceremony, a group of protesters took to the stage, condemning visa denials and inequalities in the global response to HIV. “No more conferences on AIDS in racist countries,” proclaimed a woman, giving a short speech.
Minister Sajjan was supposed to speak at the opening of the conference, but he canceled and was not replaced by another representative of the Canadian government. He was also scheduled to participate in a conference session later in the day.
Mr Sajjan’s office said ‘operational issues’ prevented him from attending. “We remain staunch supporters of UNAIDS, the Global Fund and our trusted partners,” Haley Hodgson, the minister’s spokesperson, wrote in an email, referring to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and malaria.
Omar Sharif Jr., the master of ceremonies for the opening event, said Mr Sajjan informed organizers of the cancellation “a short time ago”, drawing boos from the crowd.
Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, said she was “sad that the Government of Canada is not here”.
In her speech, she called for a fairer world, where everyone has access to quality health care and people living with HIV are free from stigma, “including a world where people from the south do not see themselves not refuse entry into rich countries to bring their expertise,” she added.
On Friday afternoon, Mr. Sajjan announced in a press release that the Canadian government would provide funding of $15 million to UNAIDS from 2023 to 2025.
“Far too many people are still dying at an unacceptable rate from HIV/AIDS. We must all mobilize again for the good of our communities, our nations and our world. No one should be left behind,” the minister said in the statement.
The conference, which attracts researchers, doctors, activists and people living with HIV, focuses on both scientific progress in the fight against AIDS and the need for increased funding for the fight against HIV. HIV.
UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, has announced that millions of lives are at risk due to disruptions in HIV care caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and declining funding for the response to HIV.
“As new infections are rising in many regions and access to treatment is slowing, how can it also be fair that funding is falling?” Ms. Byanyima questioned reporters earlier on Friday.
One of the messages from the conference is that if treatment has made the viral load undetectable, the virus is no longer transmissible.
This applies to both sexual partners and HIV-positive pregnant women who could transmit the virus to children, explained Maurine Murenga, director of the Lean on Me Foundation. Her Kenyan organization works with adolescent girls and young women living with HIV. HIV or affected by tuberculosis.
“When I was diagnosed with HIV 20 years ago, I was given six months to live because there was no treatment. I did not know that I would live long enough to reach a point where people living with HIV, on effective treatment, could no longer transmit HIV to their partners,” she testified.
The conference runs until Tuesday. Over 9,000 delegates are expected in person and another 2,000 are registered to attend virtually.