AGAINST the GRAIN

‘This is our problem’”.
Nonetheless, anti-stigma posters, no matter how artful, can’t do everything, can they? We can’t base an anti-Aids strategy

purely on pleas for people to be nice to the HIV positive.
“No, and UNAIDS can do two other really important things. Firstly, it can put its money where its mouth is and employ HIV positive people.
“But most of all, it can help break the circle of stigma by supporting the people who make the biggest difference - the people who come out as HIV positive within their own communities.
“Not everyone can come forward, but every liberation movement must have its pioneers. So UNAIDS’ job is to protect those people. We provide safety. Safe houses, real physical safety for people who are courageous enough to risk violence. And we don’t just support those individuals, but make sure their courage is rewarded by having the expertise to make sure their testimony is used in the best way possible in the media.”

You’re making a UN Programme sound like a bunch of freedom fighters.
“No, the self-help groups already exist in many countries. What we are seeing now is the transition of many of them from a group to an organisation, and we’re there to help them organise.”
Hmm. There were complaints at the Barcelona World Aids Conference that community groups were being sidelined by the politics.
“Well, for some issues you need leadership from the top. Community groups will rarely be able to put enough pressure on employers to change, for instance.
“But where community groups will always be vital is in

Aids must not be allowed to slip off the global economic agenda, says Piot

enabling marginalised groups to talk within and between themselves. They will always be the