I had a very long and tiresome journey from Newcastle to Amsterdam during the night of 23rd July. My flight was delayed for five and a half hours and I had to wait for an additional one and a half hours for a train to the central station from schiphol airport as trains were far apart given the time of day (02:30 am). After all this ordeal, I discovered that I had unknowingly booked accommodation at the heart of the famous or infamous “Red District” depending on how you look at it. This is interesting because I am in Amsterdam to attend AIDS2018.
The AIDS2018 conference is convening around 1500 researchers, activists, providers, representatives from civil society and governments from across the world, and most importantly, lay people living with HIV. We all have in common that we are working to end AIDS by 2030. Young people aged 15-24 years are currently the drivers of the HIV epidemic and it’s no coincidence that my research is focused on improving gender equitable access to services for young people in Malawi. Sex workers constitute another high risk group and my research involves adolescent female sex workers. One thing is clear: I won’t be able to create impact unless I engage the youth meaningfully in my research. I have already made provisions to include the youth, but there is always room for improvements and the conference is providing loads of inspiration. As they so like to say: “Nothing for the youth without the youth”. Just as the #ActionForImpact project, the conference comes at an opportune time just before my field work as I’ll be able to directly apply what I am learning in my own work.
I am grateful for the sponsorship by the Health and Social care theme at Newcastle University to attend this extremely educational conference. I will aim to present my work come AIDS2020.
