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Ontario AIDS Network Honour Roll 2012

The Honour Roll acknowledges the long-term and consistent contributions of individuals or organizations that use their experiences, skills, resources and voices to champion the cause of HIV/AIDS. Recipients will have contributed to reducing the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS, promoted the empowerment of People Living with HIV/AIDS, and extended the capacity of the community movement as a major response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ontario. The Honour Roll is divided into four awards; inducting one nominee annually, for the following categories: The Person with HIV/AIDS Leadership Award The Caregivers Award The Community Partners Award The Award for Social Justice

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Mourning the loss of our friend John Plater

John Plater, June 1, 1967 – July 28, 2012 It is with great sadness that we advise you of the death of John Plater on Saturday, July 28, 2012. John was a valiant champion in our fight against HIV/AIDS, HEP C, Co- infection and Hemophilia. He was 45. John was a lawyer by training and an activist by nature. He was open about his HIV positive status since the mid 1980s. For more than 25 years John provided dedicated and valiant leadership to improve the health of all of us. With his quiet determination and legal training, John opened many

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2012, the Year of GIPA in Ontario

To demonstrate our collective commitment to GIPA the principle of the “Greater Involvement of People with HIV/AIDS” the Ontario AIDS Network is partnering with people and organizations to recognize 2012 as the year of GIPA.Guiding our work is the newly proclaimed Ontario Accord on GIPA/MIPA which states, “We, people living with HIV/AIDS and allies in the community: Commit to the greater involvement and meaningful engagement of people living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA/MIPA); GIPA/MIPA puts PHAs at the centre and is grounded in human rights and the dignity of the full human being Aim to transform all who live with, work in,

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Mourning the loss of Patrick Truong

It is with great sadness that we advise you of the death of a beloved friend and member of our community, Patrick Truong. We are joining together with Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS) in mourning his loss and in honouring his life.  Patrick was respected by his many colleagues and friends in the AIDS movement. He lived with the challenges of HIV for 26 years and was one of the first members of the Asian community to be public about his status. Patrick was an advocate and caregiver who lived his life with kindness, courage, determination and generosity. In 2010 in

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The Ontario Accord

The Ontario AIDS Network has proclaimed 2012 as the year of the “Ontario Accord” on the Greater and More Meaningful involvement of People with HIV/AIDS in Ontario.  GIPA, the greater involvement of people with HIV/AIDS, has been a guiding principle of the HIV/AIDS movement for almost three decades. The Ontario Accord was created on July 29, 2011. It is one of the outcomes of the “Living and Serving 3” project, a series of consultations among HIV positive people and AIDS Service Organizations in Ontario. Organizations that have formally endorsed the Ontario Accord and have created a GIPA action plan for 2012

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Every Day is a Fight for Life

The Ontario AIDS Network is very concerned about Canada’s commitment to fighting AIDS at home and internationally. The Federal Initiative on HIV/AIDS provides $72.6 million in funding annually to Canada’s domestic and foreign response to HIV/AIDS. Included in this envelope of funding is the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Regional AIDS Community Action Program (ACAP), which provides $13.3 million worth of funding to community-based AIDS service organizations across Canada each year. These are the funding dollars within the Federal Initiative that are dedicated to supporting the ongoing work of HIV prevention, education and support on the front lines in your

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Jack Layton 1950-2011

Federal NDP leader Jack Layton died this morning (August 22, 2011) at his home in Toronto. It is with a profound sense of loss, that we join Canadians across the country who are mourning the death of the Honourable Jack Layton, the leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada. Mr. Layton was an ardent champion of gay and lesbian rights and a leading advocate who ensured that HIV/AIDS issues were a priority on the municipal agenda in Toronto and in Canada’s parliament. We will miss his leadership, his passion, his commitment to social justice and his humour.  View Mr.

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Skin ‘cast’ helps wounds heal with minimal scarring

If you break your arm, you will probably get a cast to hold the bone in place while it heals. Now there is a similar device for your skin: a bandage that prevents injured skin from deforming as it heals, dramatically reducing scarring. Geoffrey Gurtner at Stanford University in California and colleagues say their invention works by immobilising the wound and the surrounding area, shielding it from the stress of everyday activity. “From the wound’s point of view, healing is sort of like trying to build a bridge while someone is driving trucks over it,” saysReinhold Dauskardt, who is also at

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Antiviral drugs stop HIV spreading to sexual partners

In a decisive breakthrough against the spread of HIV, an international study has demonstrated conclusively that antiretroviral therapy blocks the spread of HIV from an infected person to their uninfected partner. The study, which was halted early because the results were so compelling, covered 13 countries and involved 1763 “discordant” couples, in which one partner carried the infection at the outset. In 886 of the couples, the infected partner received antiretroviral drug therapy (ART) straight away, while treatment was delayed in the other 877 couples until the infected partner showed pre-defined signs of sickness. Preliminary results, announced yesterday by the US

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Vaccine protects against monkey version of HIV

For the first time, a vaccine has completely protected monkeys against infection with SIV, a virus related to HIV that infects the animals. Out of 24 immunised rhesus macaques, 12 had long-term protection, with no signs of SIV a year after they were deliberately infected with the virus. “In half the monkeys, we saw a dramatic effect on control of the virus,” says Wayne Koff, the scientific director at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, which collaborated in the trial. “We see it as a significant advance.” What made this vaccine different was the use of a live but relatively harmless virus

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