Puzzled by suggestion of self-promotion
IN her letter (South China Morning Post, October 26) on the Third Asia-Pacific International Conference on AIDS, held in Chiang Mai, Dr Rosalind Foy outlined the great threat of HIV/AIDS to the Hong Kong community despite the relatively low reported infection figure we currently have, and highlighted the importance of commitment by all sectors to the AIDS campaign.
This is an important message, as HIV/AIDS affects everybody in a community and its devastating impact cannot be contained or reduced without a concerted effort by all. Besides, we must not be deceived by the relatively low rate of infection we have at the moment.
If we look at the 20 to 25 per cent increase in the number of the cumulative infection figure annually, the one in 10 ratio of reported to unreported cases, and the explosive situation of many other countries in the region, we know in no way we can be complacent.
I am, however, puzzled by Dr Foy's remark that 'the Government and high-profile organisations like the Hong Kong AIDS Foundation (HKAF) are more interested in self-promotion than in learning from and sharing experiences with other neighbouring countries', in the conference.
To support her remark she quoted from the script of presentation at the conference the sentence 'it was not until 1991, the year when the HKAF was founded, that the need to promote social acceptance for people with HIV/AIDS was fully recognised'. I said that when I was explaining the change in the government approach to publicity on AIDS, from one of scaring tactics to one of allaying unnecessary fears. Being an organisation which adopted, from day one, care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS as the main theme of our publicity campaign, our foundation did contribute to this change.
Besides, in my presentation I highlighted the lack of progress in involving the business sector despite our many efforts, though I also mentioned new hopes. I do not therefore see how my presentation could become evidence for our indulgence in 'self-promotion'.
With regard to learning and sharing I found the Chiang Mai Conference one of the international conferences in which I have learned the most and participated the most.
Taking as an example the workshop where I presented my paper, I learned a great deal from the other speaker who came from the Thailand Business Coalition on AIDS.
The detailed information he shared with us on how his organisation provided training for business personnel at various levels, was most useful to us and presently I am working on translating that into programmes for Hong Kong. It is evident from the post-conference sharing session among the Hong Kong delegates, that we all learned something useful from the conference.
Let's work together to prevent Hong Kong from following the steps of some of our neighbouring countries where HIV/AIDS is claiming the lives of many of their citizens.
FREDERICK TONG Chief Executive Hong Kong AIDS Foundation
