Are there enough Gay Dollars for HIV prevention?

BC Gay Men’s Health Summit – November 3rd

“What gets measured gets done”

Dr. Verle

Harrop BC Gay Men’s Health Summit

2009

What gets measured get done? The HIV disparities faced by the gay

community have been counted and measured since the onset of the epidemic.

In 2001, an environmental scan showed that from the 7.5 millions dollars invested in community action in the province, only $104,000 went directly to gay men.

“We have disproportionate resource allocation: The highest number of new

infections, but the lowest number of dollars and resources.”

Chris Buchner (VCH) BC Gay Men’s Health Summit 2005

Power gets things done

In our actual political climate – how is evidence and measures taken up in policy?

Public opinion and perception of public opinion by policy makers may be the greatest influence on Policy (Varcoe, Pauly & laliberte, 2011).

Interrogating Power

Intersectionality-based Analysis: Inequities are rarely produced by a single system

of oppression; Inequities are the outcomes of intersecting social

locations, power relations and experiences; Social categories are dynamic and socially

constructed; Each issue or problem under investigation may

require the consideration of a different constellation of factors.

Leading questions

How is the problem of HIV infection among gay men represented and addressed in the distribution of funding and policy?

How are gay men positioned within funding distribution processes?

What meanings do social locations and various systems of domination take into the processes of funding?

What are the repercussions of the conceptualization of the issues and the population?

Methodology

Review of policy text and documentations;

Interviews with key informants from the community and from the agencies providing funding for Prevention.

Results

Counting The Dollars Uncovering the Allocation process Approaches – What is getting funding?

What is not getting funding?

What is HIV prevention?

HIV Prevention funding

Provincial Government (Health Authorities) Stop HIV/AIDS

Federal government: AIDS Community Action Program (ACAP)

Counting gay Dollars

Since 2001, dollars for gay men’s HIV prevention has increased dramatically – 1.2 million was identified across the different agencies.

Nearly half of the funds identified are for short terms initiatives and may be gone unless the community is able to secure permanent funding.

Processes of allocation

Provincially – Working behind the scenes Decisions are made by bureaucrats; Community informants felt there was a

lack of transparency as to how the funding is distributed in the province;

Many gains were made “through politics and coercion.”

Who has our back?

Processes of allocation

Federally – The Beauty/Ugly Contest: Decisions made by review panels and

bureaucrats; Capacity Issues within the gay community to

put forward competitive proposals; Are the review panels biased against gay men? Socially constructed views on gay men, as

individuals and within the HIV movement, were seen as barriers to winning the empathy of review panels.

Is it us against them?

Are we caught up in the Oppression Olympics? The limited funding in HIV prevention has

created a competitive system where populations are often measured against one another;

The attribution of funding is often based on population – not needs – reinforcing the idea that two populations cannot benefit of the same intervention.

For some populations, HIV prevention funding is their only resource for health promotion – Stakes are high.

Approaches

What is and what is not getting funded? Much of the increased funding has been for, or

is related to the uptake of testing and treatment;

At the Federal level many of the projects funded have been for interventions which do not directly serve gay men (i.e. Need assessments, conferences, trainings, etc.)

HIV prevention is supported as long as it is not sexualized – Isn’t HIV an epidemic of desire?

Sex Panic?

Questions left to answer?

How can we move beyond the oppression Olympics?

Is there opportunity for coalitions? Beyond Homophobia: What other forms of

power and privileges are reinforced in the distribution of resources?

Can we reframe our discourse around sexual rights?

In our political context, how can we get transform evidence into concrete actions?

Thank you

The Participants Dr. Olena Hankivsky Daniel Grace