by Gary Richardson

Cleveland--The National Association of People with AIDS will have their national conference in Cleveland next summer.

NAPWA?s Staying Alive Summit is set for August 23-26, 2007. The first steps of planning the conference at the national level have been finalized, and the group had formed a Staying Alive 2007 Planning Committee.

The committee had its first meeting November 13 at the Cleveland LGBT Center. Subcommittees with specific tasks were formed, and there is still room for other interested members of the community to join in the planning process.

Founded in 1983, the National Association of People with AIDS is the oldest national AIDS organization in the United States, and the oldest national network of people living with HIV and AIDS in the world.

NAPWA continues to be an essential voice for people living with the virus. Its mission is to advocate on behalf of all people living with HIV in order to end the pandemic and the human suffering caused by it. NAPWA is located in Silver Spring, Maryland and is run and staffed largely by people who are living with HIV.

Staying Alive is one of NAPWA?s signature programs. Begun in 1997, Staying Alive is a unique national event for all people living with HIV. Of all the national AIDS gatherings in the United States, Staying Alive is the only one organized specifically by and for people living with the disease.

Although Staying Alive focuses on the needs of people living with HIV, this gathering is open to all regardless of HIV status. One of the cornerstones of the Staying Alive Summit is the substantive involvement of the local community. The HIV community where this event is held plays a unique role by forming a local host planning committee to act in collaboration with the national program committee.

Sessions at Staying Alive cover a diverse range of topics of interest to people living with HIV and AIDS, including up-to-date information about treatment and care, organizing for social change, the realities of intimacy and relationships and the challenges of the worldwide AIDS epidemic. Sessions include breakfast and lunch plenary presentations, workshops, panels, roundtables and performances. Presenters are drawn from leading experts in peer education, activism and advocacy, health care and research.

Perhaps most importantly, Staying Alive offers the opportunity to meet, network and share experiences with the most diverse national gathering of HIV-positive people, allies and supporters. It is NAPWA?s hope that Cleveland will continue this tradition.

Contact Gary Richardson by either calling him at 216-6210766 ext. 286 or e-mailing him at grichardson@atfgc.org.

Gary Richardson is the Staying Alive 2007 planning committee co-chair.