World AIDS Day Party – Roest Goes Red – The Netherlands (IFMSA NL)

Name of the activity: World AIDS Day Party – Roest Goes Red

Country/NMO: The Netherlands (IFMSA NL)

Program: HIV/AIDS & Other STIs

Contact information: [email protected]

Type of the activity: Education

General description:

World AIDS Day Dinner and party- Roest goes Red
Want to have the absolute time of your life and contribute to a good cause at the same time? Yes you can! At the Roest goes Red dinner and party there will be booths, activities, and prizes with one goal: to create more awareness about HIV and AIDS. Specifically with a stall next to the dinner we will talk to visitors about stigmas around HIV and discrimination. In particular about people living with HIV and testing for HIV. We will also use flyers and posters to do this.

Focus area:

Prevention of all STIs or are specific STIs, STI testing, Removing stigmatization and empowering people living with HIV, Raising awareness among the general public about STIs, STI education or training for future health-care professions

Problem statement:

Problem: There are still stigma’s that exist around HIV-infections
1. People with HIV are stigmatized in the Netherlands
a. Expression mostly in discrimination: blaming, more physical distance, avoidance, special unnecessary hygienic measures, indifference and exclusion (Arjan Bos, Maastricht University 2008).
b. Research by TNS NIPO (2010) shows that there is still a lot of ignorance and prejudice about HIV and AIDS.
i. In the workplace: 42 percent of managers believe that there is a risk of HIV infection at company emergency services (BHV). Unfair, because transmission of the virus will not occur if the normal protocols are observed. Another 43% of managers do not want to see someone with HIV working in the company canteen. There is also an unjust fear here. Another misunderstanding is that employees with HIV would be more at risk of absenteeism and dropout. In large companies, 40% of managers think that an employee with HIV is more likely to fail than an employee without HIV. However, HIV is no different than other chronic diseases today.
2. People are afraid of stigmatization for HIV Testing
a. A study showed that of the people who took an HIV test, 42% had other reasons for visiting them (Young and Zhu, 2012). The study concluded that people change their behavior to prevent stigmas surrounding HIV testing.
b. For some immigrant population groups, the threshold is larger to have an HIV test because of fear of stigmas (AIDS fund).

Target groups and beneficiaries:

Target group: Medical students and other interested people
Beneficiary: General population

Objectives and indicators of success:

– Make people aware during the World AIDS day party about the existing stigma and discrimination around HIV and AIDS
– Teaching people about the current situation regarding HIV and AIDS in the Netherlands

Methodology:

– Posters and flyers with information about stigmas around HIV and HIV testing
– Stand with representatives talking about HIV and HIV testing
– Talk by a figure in HIV community during the dinner
– Free condoms to promote safe sex
– Practice your condom skills in the dark on sexual education dildos
– Wheel of fortune with facts about HIV

Plans for evaluation:

• Track number of visitors and profession
• Keep track of conversations
o Ask in the beginning the visitor knows about the subject: situation in NL and thoughts on people living with HIV
o Thoughts on HIV testing
o The SCORA members tell facts about this.
o Ask at the end of the conversation how the knowledge / views / thoughts of the visitors have changed.