Is ‘latte activism’ diluting
the impact of Worlds Aids Day? Chris O’Connor asks
if it is still as relevant and important as
18 years ago
World
Aids Day will reach its 18th birthday this 1 December and for many this will
be no cause for celebration. From its conception in 1988, we really did not
want it to get so big. With a terrible sense of déjà vu, TV
and newspapers will focus, just for one day, on the global Aids crisis. Perhaps,
after 18 years, it’s relevant to ask where World Aids Day (WAD) is at.
Birth of the red ribbon
The WAD concept originated at the 1988 World Summit of ministers of health
on programmes for Aids prevention. It built on the many existing grass-root
vigils and gay club fundraisers. Up until 2005 it was organised by UNAIDS,
who chose the themes after consultation. In 2005 UNAIDS handed over WAD to
the World Aids Campaign (WAC), an independent organisation.
By 1989, 145 countries had reported 142,000 cases of Aids to the World Health
Organisation in a year when Thatcher was busy banning the promotion of homosexuality
by local authorities. But now, despite 17 WADs, in 2006 there are more than
40 million living with HIV.
Anti-stigma
platform
In 1991 the theme was, ‘sharing the challenge’ and the red ribbon
became an international symbol of Aids awareness. Leaders also use WAD as
a useful peg for announcements.
In 1995, Nelson Mandela used the day to call on all South Africans to “speak
out against the stigma, blame, shame and denial that has thus far been associated
with this epidemic”. And UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan used WAD 2002
to speak out against HIV-related stigma and discrimination
Using the clarion call of early Aids activists, he said: “Fear of stigma
leads to silence and when it comes to fighting Aids, silence is death.”
WAD with a punch
World Aids has often been a focus for radical Aids activism, from demos outside
pharma buildings to giant condoms raised in the centre of Paris. In 1990,
800 members of ACT-UP US protested at the Centers for Disease Control HQ in
Atlanta for their failure to acknowledge women with Aids. But in the same
year, Gay Community News asked the question ‘Is World Aids Day losing
its punch?’ This article controversially argued that WAD’s very
general themes and its worldwide commemoration had diluted its activist impact.
Think
global; act local?
In one way the WAD event seems to unite the gay club, the chapel and even
the supermarket like no other. This year you can chose a benefit screening
of The Wizard of Oz in Edinburgh; party along to the ‘Suck My Left One’
club night in Liverpool and even pick up a carrier bag emblazoned with a red
ribbon at Marks & Sparks. For the most enduring and moving WAD event,
try the annual candlelit vigil at the UK’s only HIV memorial, the Beacon
of Hope, in Sackville Park, Manchester.
Still relevant?
But the question remains: does WAD still matter?
“It is still very relevant,” said Nick Partridge head of Terence
Higgins Trust. “Obviously the focus has changed over 18 years. The big
change in the UK is combination therapy. In 1997, World Aids Day remembered
those that had died that year - now there are broader political issues. It’s
now an international issue.”
Bernard Forbes, chair of the UK Coalition of people living with HIV and Aids,
agreed: “In this country people are no longer dying hand over fist,
which has led to a degree of apathy from the guy in the street. And some of
the themes WAD comes up with just aren’t relevant in the UK.”
Other activists have remarked that any mention of gay men and their contribution
were noticeably absent from WAD themes.
A
crowded field
World Aids Day was the first ever ‘health treatment’ day and the
red ribbon was a universal and ubiquitous symbol for Aids. But now it is in
a crowded field. October is Breast Cancer Awareness when the charities wheel
out celebrity big guns like Cherie Blair and Gerri Halliwell. They use the
pink ribbon. And these days the red ribbon can symbolise anything from heart
disease, stroke, substance abuse, and reflex sympathetic dystrophy.
Slacktivism (from slacker and activism), is the latest internet buzzword to
describe people but who do not engage in much physical activity to further
their cause. It is difficult to say whether it is this rise in ‘latte-activism’
or just HIV compassion fatigue, but it is clear Aids has slipped in public
consciousness.
Where are the celebs?
NAT’s Emma Bickerstaff thinks the environment is tougher these days.
“In the eighties celebrities were queuing up to support the campaign
and you would see red ribbons everywhere on 1 December. Now it is more of
a challenge to get HIV on people’s radar.”
NAT has worked hard this year to get presenters and guests on The X Factor
and The Paul O’Grady Show to wear the red ribbon. Meanwhile, UKC has
moved into virgin territory working with the Professional Footballers’
Association to get footballers to don ribbons during post-match TV interviews.
This year there is no large event in London. NAT says it can’t afford
it.
“We just would not have the budget. What funding the NAT does get from
the Department of Health is not direct funding for World Aids Day; our overall
funding has been cut,” it said.
Nick Partridge said HIV was still unpopular as a charity cause and the situation
was complicated by the fact that so many organisations, such as Save the Children,
Oxfam and Médicins Sans Frontièrs, were also looking to highlight
the epidemic.
Emma Bickerstaff doesn’t believe in compassion fatigue, “just
a change in trends”. “In the last few years, World Aids Day has
lost ground to campaigns such as breast cancer and Make Poverty History, and
it is not as big in the UK as it was in the eighties and nineties. But we
are seeing a rise this year in the number of schools wanting to raise awareness
through red ribbon collection boxes and red themed events.”
Has
World Aids Day lost punch?
While national events and consciousness may be withering, many local themes
and events continue to proliferate on World Aids Day. Maybe its punch is not
as direct as it used to be, but for kids in Cornwall and pensioners in Scotland,
and people living with HIV, WAD can still land on target.
With around 7,000 new HIV cases in the UK each year it seems grassroots activity
continues to be our source of hope and the proper place for remembrance.
• www.worldaidsday.org
photos. clockwise from above: john schults/reuters • martin
keen/pa/empics • Ralph Alswang/reuters • Pascal lavener/reuters
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