Pacific Aids Network
Karen Dennis, November 2006
I had the opportunity to attend the General Assembly and the Annual General Meeting of the Pacific AIDS Network (PAN) on October 19th and 20th. This was my first experience with PAN although I have known about the network for years.
PAN was born in 1995 after a series of meetings and discussions. PAN is a Provincial network. PAN's initial mandate was to look at AIDS issues overall: care, treatment, prevention and support. It was also a place to share stories and experiences. PAN is a member driven network of community based AIDS organizations from across BC. PAN is a consensus based forum for communication, mutual support and collective action for HIV issues across the region. The purposes of the society are:
- To provide a network for communication, education, mutual support, collective advocacy and action for HIV related issues throughout BC
- To include persons living with HIV in decision making and the governance of the society
- To influence the public and private policies and practices that affect the physical, mental, social and spiritual health and wellness of persons living with, affected by and vulnerable to HIV
- To influence public perception and to advocate for and foster supportive political, commercial and social environments for persons living with, affected by and vulnerable to HIV
- To encourage effective networking, communications and participation among the members of the society
- To ensure the society maintains a positive and dynamic public image
- To promote and protect a community based response to HIV in BC
- To provide educational opportunities and capacity building for society members
PAN's board consists of directors from each Health Authority Region in BC. Each region has 2 seats. One seat is designated for a positive person and the other is for an AIDS organization member whether they are positive or not. Our region (Vancouver Island Health Authority, VIHA) just elected a new member, Billy and our positive member, Gordon still has a year left on his term. Miki Hansen, Executive Director of A.V.I. has just completed a 2 year term and it was quite evident that PAN was grateful for all the work she did over the 2 years as I heard many of the board members verbalize their appreciation of her at the AGM.
If there are any issues, questions or ideas you would like our region's representatives to take to the network, just let us know, either through email, fax, phone and if you would like to remain anonymous we will make sure of that.
Visit the PAN website