26 Nov 2007

UN AIDS agency look for diferent views on improving response

8:05 pm on 26 November 2007

The Commission on AIDS in the Pacific hopes to gauge a variety of viewpoints in an effort to see how countries could better respond to the disease.

The commission's findings will be summarized in a UN AIDS report.

Opinions are being sought from government officials, academics, civil society and non government organisations throughout the Pacific region.

The UN AIDS coordinator for Pacific Islands Stuart Watson, says the aim is to see how the Commission can be most effective.

"'I think when you're quite close to something, when you're working on something everyday you may miss the obvious. So I think its always helpful I think to get people from the outside to look at how we're doing and to offer some advice. Whether its research that needs to be done or whether its in fresh approaches or ideas from other disciplines, we can all learn from each other. That's the idea of this commission."

Stuart Watson says information, research, and advocacy efforts are a priority.

The Commission's inaugural meeting is on in Fiji with a variety of stakeholders from around the region.