Dr. Michael Stevenson, President
and Vice-Chancellor,
Simon Fraser University, invites you to

THE PRESIDENT’S FORUM

Stepping up the Response to the AIDS Pandemic in Lesotho

A dialogue with The Right Honourable Pakalitha Mosisili,
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho

6:30–8:30 pm, Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue
Simon Fraser University, 580 West Hastings Street, Vancouver

Agenda (PDF, 392 KB)

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Prime Minister Mosisili is deeply worried about the diminished world-wide awareness of the issue of HIV/AIDS in Africa in the face of growing concerns about climate change and the global recession. According to data from The National AIDS Commission of Lesotho, the HIV infection rate is estimated at 23.2 per cent, or 417,600 people out of Lesotho’s population of 1.8 million.
The rate of infection is estimated at 30 per cent in adults aged 15 to 49 years.

While many Canadians and non-governmental organisations, notably among them Stephen Lewis and Guelph physician Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik, have long been champions of HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention at the grassroots level, Prime Minister Mosisili wants to remind Canadians about the challenges countries like Lesotho face in dealing with the pandemic and its consequences, made worse by the global recession.

Lesotho provides anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy to victims of AIDS, and testing is widespread—but what does a country do after that? The effectiveness of ARV therapy is reduced if support services, clinical access and good nutrition are not readily available. The Prime Minister wants to move beyond mere aid to focus on sustainable development and building human capacity by directing aid into research, education, exchange programs, and public awareness.

Pandemic experts say the future of the tiny, mountainous country of Lesotho, which is landlocked by South Africa, is in jeopardy because of the staggering prevalence of the virus.

This forum will explore what more can and must be done and Canada’s part in this response.

Keynote Speaker

The Right Honourable Pakalitha Bethuel Mosisili studied at the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts and a Certificate in Education in 1970. He completed his MA at the University of Wisconsin in 1976, and an MEd at Simon Fraser University in 1982. Prime Minister Mosisili was sworn into office as Prime Minister on May 29, 1998.

Accompanying the Prime Minister is Lesotho's Minister of Health, The Honourable Dr. Mphu Keneiloe Ramatlapeng, who obtained her medical degree from the Kharkov Medical Institute, Ukraine in 1971 and a master's in Public Health in 1984 from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene & Public Health.

Respondents

Three distinguished respondents will contribute brief responses to Prime Minister Mosisili's remarks and President Stevenson will moderate the dialogue among attendees.

• Sherri A. Brown, PhD Candidate; Trudeau Scholar; SSHRC CGS Scholar investigating HIV/AIDS treatment access, Department of Political Science, SFU
• Dr. Robert Hogg, Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, SFU; Director, HIV/AIDS Drug Treatment Program, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
• Dr. Martin Laba, Director, School of Communication, SFU; Academic Project Director, Reducing HIV Stigma through Education—Ghana

Moderator

Dr. Michael Stevenson became the eighth President of Simon Fraser University in 2000, and was reappointed for a second term in 2005. Prior to coming to SFU he was Vice-President Academic and Provost at York University. Under his leadership, Simon Fraser University has been involved in significant expansion and innovation, including the establishment of a new Faculty of Health Sciences; the opening of the new Segal Graduate School of Business in downtown Vancouver; an award winning market housing development, and extensive new research and teaching facilities on the Burnaby Mountain campus.

Dr. Stevenson is an accomplished scholar and has published widely on the post-independence politics of Africa as well as on political culture and public policy issues in Canada. His book on shifts in public opinion and public policy in the 1970s and 1980s, coauthored with Michael Ornstein, won the 2000 Harold Innis Prize for the best book in the social sciences published in Canada.

He has served on the Board of the Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS), as Chair of the University Presidents’ Council of British Columbia, and as a Director on the Vancouver Board of Trade and the BC Business Council. He is currently Chair of the Standing Committee on Educational Issues and Funding of the Association of Colleges and Universities of Canada, Chair of the British Columbia Council for International Education, and Chair of the Council of Western Canadian University Presidents. He also serves on the Board of Genome BC.

This event is free but seating is limited and reservations are required. Please RSVP by September 21, 2009 at http://tinyurl.com/pmlesotho

Convened by Dialogue Programs, Simon Fraser University. For more information, call 778-782-7925 or email dialogue-info@sfu.ca.

Event made possible by Simon Fraser University’s Office of the President.