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Social work manifesto on HIV and AIDS

On July 29, 2000 the Canadian Association of Social Workers sponsored a one-daysymposium on HIV/AIDS in conjunction with the International Federation of SocialWorkers and the International Association of Schools of Social Work Conference in

Montreal, Canada. The symposium involved social workers from 32 countries and itspurpose was to create a call to action for social workers and social work educatorsaround the world regarding HIV/AIDS. The result is this Manifesto.

Preamble

As we enter the third decade of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, social workers deplore the factthat millions of people are infected with HIV/AIDS and that not enough is being done topromote wellness and to stop the spread of this preventable disease.

AIDS knows no social, racial or cultural barriers. Yet the rates of infection spiral

especially among the poor, the disenfranchised and among people who struggle withinequality and oppression.

Throughout the pandemic, people living with HIV/AIDS across the world have shown,and continue to show, a commitment to community-based action. They have not actedalone. Often social workers have provided essential leadership and support inmobilising community response to HIV/AIDS. Together they have shown an unbendingresolve to work toward wellness, to openly engage the communities, and to assert andprotect fundamental rights. This action is a potent reminder of the duty of compassionthat binds us all.

Social workers are committed to the principles ofsocial justice. We have a responsibility to devoteobjective and disciplined knowledge and skills toaid individuals, groups, communities andsocieties in their development and resolution of

personal-societal conflict.

The principles of the profession explicitly provide that we work without prejudice withregard to gender, age, disability, colour, social class, race, religion, language, politicalbeliefs or sexual orientation. Likewise, we must be mindful and aware of the impact ofoppression and marginalization with regard to gender, age, disability, colour, socialclass, race, religion, language, political beliefs or sexual orientation. We are obligated touphold stringently the principles of privacy, confidentiality and responsible use ofinformation even when a countrys legislation is in conflict with this demand. Work weundertake must be consistent with these fundamental values and nowhere may we becomplicit in supporting individuals, groups, political forces or power structures thatsuppress their fellow human beings by terrorism, torture or other brutal means.

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Through its pervasive and global scope, AIDS presents different challenges wherever itarises. In the interest of preventing further spread of HIV/AIDS and promoting health,our approach assumes a continuum of care sexual and psycho-social healtheducation, adequate testing, prophylactic means of prevention, counselling, support,care and treatment.

This Manifesto is a call to action to social workers and social work educators everywhereto walk the critical paths that demand our attention, whether on the local, national orinternational level. From the most basic duty to advocate fundamental rights, throughlobbying for effective and compassionate social and health policy, to advocating just andequitable protocols for research and collaboration, there is much work to be done.Human rights, social work education, social and health policy, research andpartnerships all relate one to the other. May this provide a catalyst to greater actionand a standard against which we can measure ourselves.

We, professional social workers and social work educators, meeting this July 29th, 2000in Montreal, Qc., Canada, at the Canadian Association of Social Workers HIV/AIDS

Symposium held in conjunction with the Joint Conference of the InternationalFederation of Social Workers and the International Association of Schools of SocialWork.

SOLEMNLY DECLARE:(1) WITH RESPECT TO HUMAN RIGHTS

To uphold and foster the Ethics of Social Work as set out in the International Declaration ofEthical Principles of Social Work and in the International Ethical Standards for Social

Workers, and to apply them rigorously in the context of HIV/AIDS;

To hold all governments accountable to the commitments set out in the Paris AIDS Summit ofDecember 1994, regardless of whether they are one of the 42 signatories, which is to say: toadvocate and defend the right to equitable treatment of all people, irrespective of culture andbelief, regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, race, religion, civil status, affiliation, route

of transmission or prognosis of compliance;

To pressure all governments and organizations to adhere to the principles of human rights anddignity of the person in accordance with existing Human Rights conventions and to respond

compassionately to those affected by the pandemic;

To advocate with vigour that all people affected and infected by HIV/AIDS have proper food,housing, education and health care and be able to exercise their rights in this regard withouthindrance.

(2) WITH REGARD TO SOCIAL AND HEALTH POLICY To engage in the fight against poverty as a key element in the prevention of HIV infection; To work actively with persons living with HIV/AIDS so that they hold their rightful place as

principal partners in addressing the pandemic and as active participants in decision-making

and policy implementation at all levels;

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To advocate public and social health policies rooted in a solid understanding of thedeterminants of health, and in the context specific realities of the community, so that those

policies effectively provide a continuum of care that promotes an improved quality of life foreveryone affected and infected by HIV/AIDS;

To use our expertise at the macro-social level to criticize policies that harm the health andpsycho-social well-being of all those who are touched by the pandemic, and to ensure that

those who are marginalized and adversely affected are heard;

To constantly battle the stigmatization and resultant discrimination that attaches to HIV/AIDSno matter what its source and no matter what its target.

(3) WITH REGARD TO SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION To incorporate innovative, comprehensive, practical and theoretical HIV/AIDS education

within social work curricula with the understanding that HIV/AIDS touches every facet ofhuman development;

To teach all students, practitioners and academicians of social work about HIV/AIDS andapprise them of the medical, physical, psycho-social, cultural, legal and economic issues

involved in the pandemic;

To acknowledge and work through our own fears and prejudice so we may fully foster respectfor people living with HIV/AIDS;

To develop an understanding of the determinants of health and the principles of theprevention-to-care continuum of care as they apply to individual and community well-being,

emphasizing health promotion, prevention of infection, social and psychological care, medical

treatment, counselling and support;

To involve all those affected by the pandemic in the education process, through community-based organisations, NGOs or other bodies;

To foster collegial attitudes that promote interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, andtransdisciplinary approaches and to ensure meaningful exchange with other professions;

To integrate theory and practice.(4) With regard to partnershipsTo address HIV/AIDS, mindful that people living with AIDS are integral to theinterdiscplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary undertakings that offerpromise and hope in response to the pandemic;

To enter into respectful professional relationships based on equality and equity; To overcome local, regional, national or professional concerns that might limit a broader

understanding, effective intervention and inclusive decision-making;

To collaborate with all organizations or leaders mindful of the particular political, social,economic and cultural context that shapes the particular relationship.

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(5) With regard to social research To ensure the participation of social workers in psycho-social research to ensure a social work

perspective on prevention, intervention, care, treatment and support and health promotion;

To involve people with HIV/AIDS in designing, implementing and interpreting the research; To ensure that all research initiatives are driven by the fundamental values of confidentiality,

informed consent, self-determination, dignity and worth of the individual;

To respond to the contribution of those being studied with respect and gratitude to ensure thatthe results of research are imparted to those being studied and to all those implicatedthroughout the research process and after its completion, so that they may benefit directly from

the process and the results.

We therefore resolve: That the HIV/AIDS pandemic and its psycho-social, medical, legal and economic

ramifications are a priority for all social workers and all social work educators throughout the

world;

That social workers and educators will forcefully advocate social and health policies foundedon the human dignity of people with HIV/AIDS and the communities in which they live;

That social workers and schools of social work will promote a continuum of care that is basedon a critical understanding of the determinants of health, as well as culturally sensitive

approaches to risk and harm reduction including, but not limited to, education about safer sexand injection drug use;

That social workers and social work educators will be guided by a fundamental awareness thatissues of HIV/AIDS awareness, education, research, treatment and care are intrinsically tied toissues of discrimination, poverty, unemployment, physical, mental and social well-being;

That our duty is to work to eradicate the impediments to effective prevention of HIVtransmission and to the proper care of those affected and infected by HIV/AIDS.