The OAN Board of Directors is pleased to announce that The Prisoners HIV/AIDS Support Action Network (PASAN) has been selected to receive The 2013 Social Justice in HIV/AIDS Award. This award will be presented at the 2013 Honour Roll Awards Ceremony on November 26, 2013.

PASAN (The Prisoners HIV/AIDS Support Action Network) is a community-based network of prisoners, ex-prisoners, organizations, activists and individuals working together to provide advocacy, education, and support to prisoners on HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and related issues. PASAN formed in 1991 as a grassroots response to the AIDS crisis in the Canadian prison system. Former prisoners are board members, staff and involved in operations, outreach and activism. PASAN is based in Toronto, but do work all over the province and the country. PASAN is the only organization in Canada exclusively providing HIV/AIDS education, support and advocacy to prisoners, ex-prisoners, young offenders and their families.

PASAN also provides the only national AIDS hot-line specially for prisoners. They produce the quarterly bulletin ‘CELL COUNT‘ offering prisoners a space to voice and share their experiences living with HIV/AIDS and Hep C. They provide services (harm reduction, counseling and education) within all levels of the prison system, from remand centres to provincial and federal institutions. PASAN also works in partnerships with other community organizations in order to address all the needs of prisoner communities, ie: mental health issues, black and aboriginal specific communities etc.

Find out more at goodevidence.com