Print 
Member Login
ACU provides additional services to its members.
ACU's Response to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic
An overview of activities and reports: 1998 - 2002
When and where ACU became involved
Pre-CHOGM 1999 Symposium in Durban
DFID supported project: HIV/AIDS - Towards a Strategy for Commonwealth Universities
i. The mapping survey
ii. The Geneva Consultation - March 2001
iii. The Lusaka Workshop - November 2001
iv. The Goa Workshop - May 2002
HIV/AIDS: towards a multi-sectoral response (2001)
1. When and where ACU became involved
At a meeting in London in November 1998, ACU was challenged by Professor Brenda Gourley, at that time Vice-Chancellor of the University of Natal and Immediate Past Chair of the ACU Council, to take heed of and respond to the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on the universities in southern Africa (and elsewhere).
Professor Gourley reported that the University of Natal had been asked to organise symposia around the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in late 1999 and it was suggested that ACU might be involved in organising at least one of these symposia, taking HIV/AIDS as the topic. It was noted that ACU was better placed to address issues related to social policy than the medical aspects of HIV/AIDS; and that ACU could fulfil a very useful longer-term role in promoting a response to the pandemic, and in sharing policies and examples of good practice amongst the universities in membership.
2. Pre-CHOGM 1999 Symposium in Durban
Accordingly, ACU organised in conjunction with the University of Natal a 2-day symposium immediately to precede the November 1999 CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) in Durban. The symposium was entitled The Social, Demographic and Development Impact of AIDS: Commonwealth Universities Respond.
In addition to financial support from the British Council in South Africa, many sponsors (e.g. the Soros Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, The National Health Laboratory Service UK) supported the participation of individual delegates. The Parliamentary Review (which every UK member of parliament receives) published an 800 word article (by the ACU) on the seminar in their pre-CHOGM issue.
Click here for the report of the Durban Symposium, the Communiqué and the HIV/AIDS policy for students and staff (which was drafted following the Symposium). The Communiqué was written in conjunction with colleagues from the Commonwealth Medical Association (who were running a parallel symposium in Durban) and was duly delivered to CHOGM. One of the greatest successes of the whole of ACU's involvement in HIV/AIDS is that the core message of our Communiqué - that the social and economic impact of HIV/AIDS constituted a global emergency - was included in paragraph 55 of the formal Durban CHOGM Communiqué, giving us all the freedom to engage in HIV/AIDS related work in any Commonwealth country. Para 55 reads as follows:
"(Heads of Government) expressed grave concern over the devastating social and economic impact of HIV/AIDS, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. They agreed that this constituted a Global Emergency, and pledged personally to lead the fight against HIV/AIDS within their countries and internationally. They urged all sectors in government, international agencies and the private sector to co-operate in increased efforts to tackle the problem, with greater priority given to research into new methods of prevention, the development of an effective vaccine and effective ways of making affordable drugs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS accessible to the affected population."
3. Birth of the Para 55 Group
Shortly after the 1999 CHOGM, a group of Commonwealth NGOs formed a group called the Para 55 Group which contributed to the deliberations of Commonwealth Health Ministers, participated in the preparatory meetings for the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS), convened conferences and expert group meetings and, where possible, planned multi-sectoral activities involving the various members. ACU maintained contact with the group, as part of its planning committee, and collaborated in a number of activities until it changed its name, status and direction some years later.
4. Activity 1999 - 2000
Following the November 1999 Symposium, ACU maintained its involvement with HIV/AIDS by:
• Aligning itself with the Para 55 Group and collaborating wherever possible in activities and projects that promote awareness and share good practice, e.g.:
• Co-hosting at the Royal College of Physicians on 13 October 2000 a one-day conference entitled “HIV/AIDS: A Commonwealth Emergency - the Challenge to Medical Education” and
• Participating in the Para 55 Conference on HIV/AIDS which the Commonwealth Foundation organised for Autumn 2000
• Distributing, in response to requests from those who had heard about it, further copies of the report of the Durban seminar, and of the draft “HIV/AIDS Policy for staff and students at Commonwealth universities” (which was sent to the Executive Heads of all ACU member universities).
• Continuing to write chapters/prepare papers on the Commonwealth universities’ response to HIV/AIDS, notably for the Commonwealth Secretariat and for the Commonwealth Foundation
• Flagging at every possible opportunity - such as at the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) meeting in Halifax in November 2000 - the need for the universities to respond.
5. DFID supported project: HIV/AIDS - Towards a Strategy for Commonwealth Universities
Towards the end of 2000 John Kirkland and Dorothy Garland were invited by the the UK's Department for International Development to submit a proposal related to HIV/AIDS and higher education. The proposal, which bid for £100k and was entitled HIV/AIDS: Towards a Strategy for Commonwealth Universities was successful. Its aim was to help universities combat and, if possible, pre-empt the impact of the pandemic on the institutions themselves, their staff, students, finances and research outputs; on the communities in which they are located and which they serve; and ultimately on national development.
i. The mapping survey
Colleagues from the ACU's Policy Research Unit (PRU) and Human Capacity Development (HCD) department undertook an initial mapping survey to establish the extent to which HIV/AIDS is, or is recognised as, a problem in the universities around the Commonwealth, to identify some of the strategies that are in place for dealing with it, and to give examples of some of the policies that already exist. The survey provided very valuable background information to the round-table Consultation that was held in Geneva in March 2001, which was jointly led by the heads of PRU, HCD and External Relations. (Follow this link for the analysis of the mapping surveyand its appendices.)
ii. The Geneva Consultation - March 2001
Hosted by WHO/UNAIDS, and attended by representatives from DFID and UNESCO, this Consultation was an opportunity for the 14 participants, of whom two were Vice-Chancellors, to critique the project as outlined in the initial proposal; to share experiences of the extent of the problem in each region represented - and the perceptions of the problem; to discuss which strategies had been found to be effective and which less successful; and to agree a detailed programme that promised to have real, long-term impact.
Those at the Geneva meeting were unanimous in agreeing that, if universities were to be persuaded to take HIV/AIDS seriously, and to recognise what needs to be done to combat the impact of the pandemic, it would be essential to secure top-down commitment. The course of the project over the next year would therefore run as follows:
• a workshop document/framework/module/resource pack (along the lines of What a Vice-Chancellor needs to know about HIV/AIDS) would be written, the elements of which were agreed in Geneva
• two national seminars would be organised (one in Africa and one in India) for the Vice-Chancellor and one or two of his/her senior colleagues from 8 – 10 universities in the region, using the above-mentioned document, with the objective of securing a mandate for those senior colleagues to plan and run similar seminars upon their return to their home institutions
Click here for the report of the Geneva Consultation (March 2001).
iii. The Lusaka Workshop - November 2001
Hosted by the University of Zambia, the Lusaka Workshop looked specifically at the impact of HIV/AIDS on the ten sub-Saharan countries represented, considered the issues which HIV/AIDS raises within the context of teaching, research, management and engagement with the community; and identified examples of good practice that could be adopted or adapted for use in a wide range of universities.
The overarching aim, in planning the Zambian workshop, was to secure the understanding and commitment of university leaders to the need for immediate and well resourced institutional responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic; and the evidence of the evaluation exercise at the end of the event was that the workshop had been timely and persuasive.
Click here for the report of the Lusaka Workshop.
iv. The Goa Workshop - May 2002
Although this workshop was self-standing, it took place immediately after a one-day ACU seminar (in the same venue, with the same delegates) on the topic of Universities Engaging with their Communities. It was planned this way so that participants could focus on the HIV/AIDS pandemic as a very clear example of why and how universities could and should be engaging with their communities.
The objectives of this workshop were to:
• Open the debate about HIV/AIDS at leadership level in a sub-region of Asia.
• Identify how universities in this region could demonstrate leadership and inspire hope in responding to the HIV/AIDS challenge.
• Find out who was doing what in the university sector in this region vis-à-vis incorporating issues relating to HIV/AIDS in their teaching, research, internal management and community outreach; and in instances where nothing was being done in these areas, develop awareness of what strategies might be introduced.
• Share what strategies are good and what won’t/doesn’t work in the Asian university context.
• Promote the development of (possibly collaborative) research that would benefit the local, national and regional communities.
• Promote best practice in providing care for staff and students (especially people living with AIDS).
• Promote outreach, connectivity and collaboration between universities and their wider community - NGOs, industry, business etc.
• Inspire those who attend the workshop to authorise the running of cascade workshops in their own institutions.
Participation was by invitation to the executive head of a cross section of ACU member universities in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; and, at the particular request of DFID, to one in Nepal. While circumstances beyond their control prevented the two expected delegates from Pakistan from attending the meeting, 15 other universities were represented by their current (or, in one instance, former) vice-chancellor. A further three universities were represented, at the request of their VCs, by a senior member of staff.
The meeting proved to be a real eye-opener to the problems and issues that are, or could soon be, faced by the universities in this region and stimulated animated discussion about possible responses. It also exposed the rich opportunities that exist for institutional and collaborative research across the range of academic disciplines; and it pointed to the particularly valuable potential for combining traditional (in this instance, notably, Ayurvedic) and western clinical approaches to prevention, treatment and care.
One vice-chancellor described this workshop as having “challenged the stigma, shame and silence, sensitised us to the issues and converted us to a more positive approach”. This opinion was echoed by the body of Indian vice-chancellors who, gratifyingly, expressed their determination to see HIV/AIDS on the agenda of the next meeting of the Association of Indian Universities.
Click here for the report of the Goa Workshop.
6. HIV/AIDS: towards a multi-sectoral response (2001)
Alongside colleagues from the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth Foundation and the Commonwealth medical professional associations, ACU worked with the Para55 Group to advocate a multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary approach to combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Activities with which we were closely involved included:
• a one-day conference, immediately preceding the 6th ICAAP (International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific) in Melbourne, Australia, to explore and debate what constitutes successful strategies in a wide variety of sectors including higher education, the private sector, the trades unions and a wide variety of NGOs
• the development of a new initiative - the Commonwealth Award for Action on AIDS - which held its first Awards Ceremony in Melbourne just after the one-day conference. Winners included the President of Uganda; Telkom South Africa; the Kenya AIDS NGO Consortium; The Naz Foundation Trust in India; the Toco Youth and Sexuality Project, Trinidad and Tobago; The Story Workshop, Malawi; Standard Chartered Bank, UK and the Ministry of Basic Education, Sport and Culture, Namibia.
• a half-day seminar, hosted by Queensland University of Technology as one of the parallel sessions in the run-up to CHOGM 2001. This meeting was intended to be a further opportunity to explore the multi-sectoral response with a view to preparing a message for the Heads of Government. Unfortunately, however, CHOGM was cancelled which meant that a) we were deprived of our immediate mission and b) the numbers attending this and all the other parallel sessions was disappointingly small. We therefore changed the second half of the meeting and, to the benefit of all present, exploited the availability of the Deputy Director of HIVAN (the new Centre for HIV & AIDS Networking) at the University of Natal to learn more about that initiative.