UNICEF Video Launch

UNICEF/APN+/ADB, With hope and help and Turning grief into courage

Natashya Yong from Asia Pacific Network of Positive People (APN+) gave her opening remarks at the launch of three new videos from Cambodia,Thailand and China. She expressed that her experience of being HIV positive has enriched her life, but that PLWHAs in the Asia Pacific region are also the victims of discrimination and stigma - who can be evicted from their homes, lose their jobs, and be ridiculed - causing silence of their positive status and fear. She feels the challenge is to fully involve PLWHA in policy, program development and implementation in environments that can downplay the issues or not allocate the much-needed funds for treatment and care. The video launch was also honoured by the presence of Nic, a teenager from Northern Thailand whose father died of AIDS and mother is HIV positive and who is also the main actor of "Turning Grief into Courage', Dr and two positive women from Cambodia who recount their experiences of being positive in "With Hope and Help: Cambodia". All three films are inspiring clearly showing that the power of the voices of "positive" people and those supportive and compassionate to those living with HIV/AIDS are changing social conceptions of HIV in some parts of Asia and consequently creating more supportive environments.

Dr Phalla Tia from the National AIDS Authority in Cambodia explained, "Speaking out is promoting radical social change so that the rights of people are being addressed" and "there was the need to make a lot of change, to make a profound difference". This process of speaking out or breaking the silence in Cambodia is clearly demonstrated through the voices of the film - people living with HIV/AIDS, doctors, army leaders, employers, religious leaders, immediate family members and the royal family - and of the salience and potential of the concerted efforts from the multiple sectors of society. One cannot but be reminded of the demographics of those infected in the films; the positive women whose husbands have already died and other young people infected or being orphaned. While these films clearly show the endurance of the human spirit they highlight the current need for a focus on the treatment and care of those living with HIV/AIDS.