Maori working with HIV and AIDs are preparing for a major conference on ways to address the stigma that makes it harder for many Maori to get their condition properly treated.
He Kai Ata Rau will he held in July at the University of Waikato in Hamilton.
Spokesperson Tawhanga Kereopa says discrimination can be more damaging than the virus itself, with HIV positive Maori being denied social or healthcare services, ostracised from workplaces or school activities, or dislocated from whanau and hapu.
He says much of the stigma comes from the way the virus was first associated in many western countries with gay males, even though worldwide it does not discriminate on race, age or sexuality.
"The stigma and discriminisation around HIV and AIDs is attached to the ways that we think about sexuality. That's really a core issue to do with whakapapa and so the hui is about making sure that on the waka that we travel as Maori people we are not leaving people behind," he says.
Tawhanga Kereopa says the speakers line up already include Professor Timoti Karetu on Sexuality in Maori Tradition, Leonie Pihama on Maori Research and Dayle Takitimu on International Rights and the Treaty of Waitangi.
