NAPWA marks 20 years

The national coalition of groups representing people with HIV/AIDS celebrated its 20th anniversary last week and released its new four-year strategic plan.
NAPWA president Robert Mitchell said the organisation decided to release its own strategy now rather than wait for the overdue national HIV strategy.
The thing that is unique about being HIV positive is a unique holistic outlook on the response that is needed. Whereas other groups like doctors will look at clinical issues, positive people will say we’re more than just pills, he told Sydney Star Observer about the role NAPWA needed to play in the coming discussions.
It’s not just how governments’ social policy, welfare support or primary healthcare plans affect positive people. You can’t just provide treatment solutions. You can’t provide care and support plans without looking at housing and employment issues or other social determinants of health.
NAPWA’s strategy looks at maintaining and strengthening ties to communities closely linked to the epidemic, such as sex workers and injecting drug users.
Human rights and social justice