Feature story

vih.org: Information, debate and exchange in response to AIDS

29 June 2009

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For information and tools on the AIDS response in French as well as community fora, web users will find much of interest on VIH.org

For information and tools on the AIDS response in French as well as community fora, web users will find much of interest on vih.org.

This information portal offers a wide range of tools and services in French to community service professionals working in the field of HIV around the world including doctors, researchers, institutions and non-governmental organizations and people living in countries.

The site builds on the analysis and exchange work conducted over the past ten years by the French Pistes Association via its papers “Transcriptases” and “Swaps.” It is led by a team of journalists and experts in HIV and in close association with the CRIPS Ile-de-France, a French regional information centre for public health advice, especially for young people in areas of sexual health, drug use and HIV prevention.

vih.org offers a place to exchange information via participative community fora which visitors can contribute to or even create new discussions on a range of issues. Discussions currently taking place online include “the exclusion of gay men from blood donation services in France” and “is exclusive breastfeeding feasible in Africa.”

In this way the vih.org web site enables users to build relationships with people sharing similar concerns or interests. The user is also able to customize site content according to their interest or location in order to easily access the information they need.

The involvement and contributions of people and institutions based in low and middle income countries is central to the web portal. Participation is seen as central to contribute to disease management, the facilitation of research and information sharing, promotion of work and dissemination of information.

The vih.org portal is supported by Crips Île-de-France; the French Ministry of Health; the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the French national agency on HIV and viral hepatitis research - ANRS; GlaxoSmithKline; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Abbott Laboratories; Boehringer Ingelheim; Roche; Gilead; Tibotec and Esther.