MONTREAL AIDS CONFERENCE -- PWA PARTICIPATION

Last week we spoke with Don DeGagne, who is representing persons with AIDS on the program committee of the V International Conference on AIDS -- the major scientific conference of 1989, to be held in Montreal, Quebec in June. After extensive criticism of lack of PWA participation at the previous international AIDS conference in Stockholm, the
Canadian AIDS Society and PWA groups lobbied for representatives of community-based groups and PWAs to be involved at Montreal. The organizers of the conference have responded:

* "AIDS, Society, and Behavior", one of the nine modules of the conference, is expected to have persons with AIDS in all of the 20 themes within that module;

* PWAs will be part of the opening ceremony, at least one plenary session, and many panels, discussion groups, and forums. For example, Mr. DeGagne himself is putting together a workshop, "Living with AIDS", in which persons with AIDS from five different regions of the world will talk about their experiences. There will also be a workshop on how to organize coalitions, a concept unfamiliar in some parts of the world.

Before the Conference itself, which begins on June 4, there will probably be a two-day pre-conference for persons with AIDS and community-based organizations, so that people can meet each other and organize. Persons making flight reservations should know that this pre-conference may be occurring; for more information, call Don DeGagne at
the number below.

An audiovisual module will be part of the Conference. Persons with any visual materials related to AIDS can still submit them, even after the February 1 deadline for scientific abstracts. For more information, contact Ken Morrison at the V
International Conference on AIDS.

We asked about PWA involvement in the San Francisco Conference, next year. Mr. DeGagne "would strongly urge the organizers of the VI International Conference on AIDS, which will be held in San Francisco at the end of June in 1990, to follow the path of the Montreal Conference by including persons with AIDS in all aspects of the event itself, as well as its planning stages. Collaboration between the groups, consumers as well as doctors and researchers, is a primordial thing. PWAs should be involved from the beginning -- for San Francisco, that means now -- or it will be hard to catch up later."

What about cost? Registration is $450. (Canadian), and there is no reduced rate for PWAs to be admitted to the Conference. But there is an organization for housing, so if there is a problem with paying for hotels, contact Mr. DeGagne at the Vancouver PWA Coalition (phone number below). Mr. DeGagne urged that organizations raise funds
and lobby for funding so that persons with AIDS will be able to attend.

The Canadian government will subsidize the cost of attending for 300 persons from third-world or developing countries.

For more information about PWA organizing and involvement, you can reach Don DeGagne by leaving a message at the Vancouver PWA Coalition, 604/683-3381. For registration or other information about the V International Conference on AIDS, which will take place June 4-9 in Montreal, you can obtain a registration packet from the Secretariat, 514/874-
4006.


ANNOUNCEMENTS