New home for HIV/AIDS Support Service
- Release Date: 21/08/2004
- Media Contact: Miranda Hunt 0410 417 790
Dr Margaret Young, representing the Minister for Health in Queensland, will officially open the new premises of the Life Enhancement Centre, which provides peer support and advocacy for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), on Saturday 21 August.
Previously known as the Allan Street Centre, the Life Enhancement Centre has moved to a new address on Vulture Street and is looking forward to continuing to provide a safe and inclusive place for PLWHA and their carers.
The service is a volunteer based organisation that survives on Government funding, the generosity of community groups and it's ongoing partnership with Mater Health Services.
According to Mr Michael Masters, Convenor of the Life Enhancement Centre, the centre assists more than 4500 HIV positive people each year.
"The Life Enhancement Centre is an important refuge that offers PLWHA peer support such as educational seminars, meals, group outings and life enhancement methods like massage, nutrition clinics and complementary medicines as well as an advocacy service.
"Our aim is to assist those living with HIV/AIDS and their carers to achieve and maintain their highest level of health and wellbeing and we couldn't do this without the support of the community, in particular Mater Hospitals," Mr Masters said.
In the past twenty years, the centre has witnessed a huge change in the way HIV/AIDS is treated compared with the 1980s when AIDS was a death sentence, a sentiment echoed by Mater's Director of Infectious Diseases, Professor Joe McCormack.
"The drugs available today have revolutionised the prognosis for PLWHA who can now expect to live relatively normal lives.
"However, with approximately 100 new cases of AIDS diagnosed each year we cannot afford to become complacent about HIV/AIDS and we need to remember that these drugs are not a cure," Professor McCormack said.
The Life Enhancement Centre needs further financial and volunteer support. If you can help, please phone Michael or John on +61 7 3846 3939.