ÇA MARCHE 2009 : Lets Rock the Walk!

Lets Rock the Walk!

Attracting more than 10,000 walkers annually to the streets of downtown Montreal. The Farha Foundation’s ÇA MARCHE is the largest HIV / AIDS fundraising event in Québec.

During last year’s Ça Marche campaign, ACCM’s amazingly dedicated walkers helped us raise more than 25 thousand dollars, maintaining our three-year reign of being the highest fundraising AIDS service organization in Quebec!

This incredible accomplishment is a testimony to the dedication and support of our entire membership (staff, clients, and volunteers.) The funding that ACCM gains through Ça Marche allows us to maintain and develop our numerous services and activities that work to counter the effects of HIV/AIDS.

As proud as we are of our past success, we can’t afford to decrease our efforts. Funding is always uncertain, and we need you now more than ever. This year, we’ve set our sights higher with a goal of $35,000. It sounds like a lot, but with your help, we can do it. As someone I never met once said: “…playing small does not serve the world”. Nor does it serve the community, where silence has rarely done much good.

Walk with ACCM on September 20th or

BETTER YET: CREATE YOUR OWN ÇA MARCHE TEAM!

Be a part of the thousands of people that fill the streets of downtown Montreal and help us send the message that the fight against AIDS/HIV is not over. Not here, not anywhere. Up to 20,000 people are living with HIV in Quebec today, and that number is rising.

Registering to become a walker (on your own or part of a team) or to make a donation, only takes a few minutes.

https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/LoginRegister.aspx?EventID=28511&LangPref=en-CA

If you have any questions about the process, some tips about creating a team or a fundraising activities, please don’t hesitate to contact me anytime Monday – Thursday 9-5.

(PS even if you were a registered on-line walker last year, you MUST register again for 2009!)

In 2009- Lets Rock the Walk!

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2009 in Montreal
NEW DEPARTURE SITE - Emilie-Gamelin Park (Berri Uqam)

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is OUR light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talentedActually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world Marianne Williamson/ sometimes incorrectly attributed to Nelson Mandela

ACCM is currently investing time and energy in order to launch a French version ofour website - accmontreal.org - in June of this year. Staff and volunteers are concentrating their efforts on updating the English website and developping a French one. We will resume our blogging in July.

Please refer to our website for monthly updates on the happenings at ACCM. You can also subscribe to our monthly calendar by emailing Meaghan at admin@accmontreal.org.

Spring promises to be a busy summer as we hold our first annual art auction fundraiser "Projet HOPE" (projecthopeartauction.blogspot.com) on the 15th of Aprilat Lion d'or, continue our monthly treatment conferences, and prepare for summer outreach events.

Happy spring, Mark

- ACCM's Executive Director

Depression in the Context of HIV: In the brain or in the mind?

Marie-Josée Brouillette came to speak at a Treatment Conference on depression in those living with HIV. She was willing to look at depression from two angles – as both a biological phenomenon as well as a psychosocial one – in the brain and in the mind. She discussed both approaches to it, beginning with the more naturalistic route –delving into the intricacies of brain anatomy and scans to determine the precise location of depressive symptoms. She described the latest research in very accessible terms and discussed hormones effortlessly and breathlessly in easy terms for the lay listener.

Brouillette linked biological research with common folk knowledge, explaining just why eating turkey makes one sleepy, (It’s the trypthophan in the turkey,) and linking it all once again to depression.She discussed potential biological reasons for depression in HIV, from High viral loads, to the side effects of medication, all the way to neuro-AIDS, a condition of psychiatric symptoms from cerebral infection.

Then she covered the psychology of depression in HIV, from Freud to the modern era. From a psychological standpoint, Brouillette said that depression can often be associated with “crisis points” for people living with HIV, for example, when a person first learns of their status, when they disclose it to family and friends or when the start medication. There can be other crisis points at later dates, such as when new illnesses or symptoms arise, when end-of-life planning. Not all are necessarily associated with progression of AIDS; sometimes a crisis point can happen when a person’s illness improves and they must return to work or school.

Still others can come from changes in body image, self esteem and sense of desirability. Brouillette stressed that each crisis point is experienced differently depending on one’s personal circumstances.

Then she posed the question to the audience, is it in the brain or in the mind? Most nodded that it could be both. Dr. Brouillette displayed recent genetic research showing that people with one variation in a certain gene are much more likely to get depressed. Environment did have an effect, but 40% of the probability of depression was found to depend on only one variation in this one gene—a piece of DNA that controls how much of the Serotonin Transporter is made, which is a protein that moves the mood-altering hormone serotonin. While Brouillette acknowledged that the number of stressful life events had an effect, she argued that much of the risk for depression was genetic in origin.

Dr. Brouillette believes that considering depression as a primarily genetic illness helps to removes the blame from the sufferer – it is not their fault, nor the result of a weaker personality, she argues. Some people are predisposed to respond to stressful life events with depressive symptoms, and others are may do so without much incident. This does not remove a person’s personal agency, because, as she puts it, “An explanation is not an excuse.” She believes that understanding the origins of depression can empower its sufferers to think of themselves as different individuals with individual needs., and to seek the coping strategies that work best for them.

Oren

World AIDS Day 2008

In commemoration of World AIDS Day,
we would like to invite you all to participate with us in a vigil at Parc de l’Espoir ( rue Ste Catherine est, angle Panet, Métro Beaudry) at 7pm

SHED SOME LIGHT
By holding a torch to light another's path, we brighten our own.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoV11awtmvY

MAKE SOME NOISE
To be heard. And to raise your voice for those who cannot raise theirs.
HIV has been around for 25 years. People have been silent enough.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmiqfnEoU5g

A moment of silence: Bring flashlights & candles and join us in helping raise some awareness on the issues people living with HIV face. Raise your light to remember those who have passed on. Raise your light to those who have adamantly refused to leave.

A moment of noise: Bring noise makers, horns and most importantly your voice, to shout out into the darkness, because we’ve all been silent long enough.

Donations of non-perishable food items to the Fondation d'aide direct - sida Montréal will be accepted on site

Holiday Party 2008!

Hey Everyone
Just a reminder that December 6th is the Annual ACCM Holiday Party!
If you want to attend, please don’t forget to register at 514.527.0928 or via admin@accmontreal.org Deadline for registration is November 20th. We have some wild surprises planned...

And…what could be more fun than to volunteer! be part of the decorating committee, the Set Up/ Take Down committee, Bar staff, or impress us with your culinary accomplishments by prepping an awesome dessert or series of appetizers. It’s a lot of fun, and for laughs I’ll let you listen to my band’s rockin new track “I Found A Teaspoon And Named Her Sally” - give me a shout at 514.527.0928 or admin@accmontreal.org -Alex

New Student Field Worker at ACCM

Hi, my name is Oren! I am a new student field worker with ACCM. I am working for Lance Lamore who leads the Treatment program. I was attracted to ACCM because of its community building reputation and community based services: the JRR Drop-in Centre, the Treatment Literacy Conferences, Therapet, the Buyer’s Club.

My hours at the JR Rainville Drop-In Site are 12:00-5:00 pm on Tuesday. But I am reachable at all times at
gettingstarted@accmontreal.org .

I also assist with the Treatment Literacy Conferences, where the membership can familiarize themselves with the latest HIV treatment information and research. The next conference is a dinner and discussion about the effects of other STIs on HIV. It will be held on Tuesday Nov 25 and is entitled “HIV and Complications related to other Sexually Transmitted Infections,” and will be led by Dr Roger LeBlanc of the Montreal Chest Institute.
To RSVP please email treatment@accmontreal.org or call (514) 527-0928.

One, Two, or One Too Many?

(Version française)

Opinion

You may have noticed a couple of advertising campaigns out in our community recently.

The "One Life" campaign is a very interesting and well put together campaign to encourage people to get tested for HIV. Taken alone, the "One Life" campaign is very positive, and the goal of encouraging people to get tested is something that we can only be in favour of. Have a look at the web site for One Life here.

The "Juste une fois" campaign ("One With U" in the English version) is a promotion for the once daily HIV treatment Atripla. Atripla is a combination of Sustiva, Tenofovir and FTC in a single pill. This is not in itself a bad thing either: dosing simplification can be very helpful to treatment adherence and this combination can be very effective in treating HIV, although it is not for everyone.

The big problem I have had with the "Juste une fois" campaign is that it is an advertising campaign for prescription medication. The law in Canada places some serious limits on direct to consumer advertising of prescription medications. This is why you won't see either the name of the company or the name of the medication on any of the promotional materials. It would be naïve to think that people can't figure out what drug is being advertised, as there is only one combination available in the format of one pill once per day, so this campaign is treading rather close to the line.

Add to this that the campaign placement has been ubiquitous in areas likely to reach potential customers (outside HIV clinics, almost everywhere in the Village…) and you have a violation of the spirit of the ban on direct to consumer advertising.

The Canadian Treatment Action Council, of which ACCM is a member, has done some thinking about this issue and has written a position paper on direct to consumer advertising (DTCA). You can see the paper in its entirety here. In brief, the points covered by this paper include the following:
• There is no proof of the health benefit of DTCA, so the only reason for it must be to increase the profits of the companies responsible for it.
• The amount of money spent on DTCA in the United States, where it is allowed, leads directly to the possibility that the costs of this activity will be recovered in the price of the drug being advertised.
• Most doctors found that DTCA was not helpful with respect to the quality of care they could offer their patients, both in terms of patient expectations and doctors' prescribing patterns.
• There is no evidence that DTCA leads to better informed patients, as it advocates for a single product rather than presenting a balanced view of available options to inform choice.
• DTCA can have a negative impact on the doctor-patient relationship, as doctors may find themselves pressured into prescribing a product which might not be appropriate for the individual, or may have to spend time they don't usually have to re-educate patients with more balanced information.

In general, there are better, more balanced sources of treatment information that ought to be relied on; advertising tends to paint an unrealistically positive portrait of the product that does not serve to inform treatment decisions.

So what does one of these have to do with the other?

This was the sight that greeted me on my way to Ça Marche in the Beaudry Métro: the One Life and the One Pill campaigns next to each other throughout the station. In case there was any doubt about a link between them, it was the same advertising firm and the same pharmaceutical company, and the two campaigns ran side by side in a very public way.

The excellent campaign to encourage HIV testing has been tainted by its association with the objectionable direct to consumer advertising campaign. That is why I will encourage ACCM to refrain from associating with either of these campaigns.

What do you think? (Comments encouraged.)

Ken Monteith

Executive Director