Para55 was formed following the last Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting that took place in Geneva in May 2000. The group, which held its first meeting in July, consists of some 10-15 associations, including the Commonwealth Medical Association , the Commonwealth Nurses Federation, the Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Association and the Commonwealth Dental Association. According to Marianne Haslegrave of the Commonwealth Medical Association, some 60 per cent of AIDS cases worldwide have occurred in Commonwealth countries, although the Commonwealth accounts for only about 30 per cent of the world's population. Some Commonwealth countries, particularly in Southern Africa, have the highest rates of infection in the world.
Initiatives are under way in various sectors.
Medical students at the conference expressed feelings of helplessness in the face of the pandemic, and cited a lack of resources to treat patients and to protect themselves from infection. Through the Ambassadors for Positive Living programme, young people who are HIV positive act as peer educators and counsellors, providing both support for others living with the virus, and advice to those not yet infected on how AIDS can be prevented. Since its inception, the programme has run AIDS awareness programmes in more than 10 countries in the Africa region. South Africa has launched its own national programme, based on the Ambassadors for Positive Living model. An information toolkit on the programme has been produced and is now being used to launch Positive Living programmes in East Africa and member countries of the Southern African Development Community.