HISTORY OF CAN
CAN began as a grassroots community group supporting the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS in central Victoria in the early 1990s. Then called ‘CHAIRS' (Castlemaine HIV/AIDS Information Resources & Support); the majority of the volunteer work provided was basic daily living support, i.e., cooking, cleaning, driving clients to medical appointments. It was an attempt by a few concerned local community members to provide assistance and support to their neighbours, friends &/or family living with what was then a devastating terminal illness. (Note that this was before the availability of HAART; when the face of HIV was very different to what it is today - thank God).
Country AIDS Network Victoria was incorporated in 1996 and moved to Bendigo to enhance rural Victoria's capacity to respond to not only the issues of HIV/AIDS but other Blood Borne Viruses (BBVs) such as Hepatitis C and general sexual health. This roughly coincided with the introduction of HAART. In the mid-1990's, an effective treatment for HIV infection, called HAART (Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy), became widely available in Australia, radically changing the lives of people living with HIV.
From this time on, being infected with HIV no longer meant an inevitable progression to AIDS and then death. Consequently, the annual number of AIDS cases & deaths from AIDS fell rapidly once HAART became available. HAART changed HIV into a long-term chronic illness that can be controlled through proper medication and monitoring.
Having effective treatment has reduced the impact of HIV for many people. But being HIV positive still means dealing with a wide range of problems on a day-to-day basis and as is often the case; these problems can be magnified for those living in rural/regional areas. Over the years CAN has evolved with the changing needs of its members, clients and communities. While it still offers basic support to people living with HIV &/or Hep C; a large portion of its focused peer & community support work is in health promotion.
In June 2006 the membership of CAN voted to change the organisation's name to Country Awareness Network to better reflect the wide range of issues we address & the services we provide. (And this new name also allowed us to keep our well-known acronym ‘CAN'.)
Since its inception, CAN has grown to become Victoria's peak rural body for the provision of education, resources, support and advocacy for people living with or affected by BBVs &/or sexually transmitted infections. CAN operates from basic community development principles of empowerment and inclusion. We work in collaborative partnerships with other key organisations and individuals in an effort to achieve the best outcomes for our communities.
CAN relies heavily upon these collaborative partnerships with a range organisations and key individuals to deliver its programs, services & projects. Peak bodies such as the Victorian AIDS Council / Gay Men's Health Centre, Hepatitis C Victoria, PLWHA Victoria all play an important role by providing support to CAN's work and in exchange CAN supports the initiatives of these groups by acting as a conduit through which many of their health promotion programs are disseminated to rural/regional communities. Locally, key groups, service providers and individuals play an important role in assisting CAN to deliver its services across rural regional Victoria and doing so with a fraction of the funding and resourcing available to the larger peak bodies.
For years, CAN has supported and facilitated peer community support groups for people in rural / regional areas living with &/or affected by blood borne viruses (BBVs). While the majority of these programs have been based in Central Victoria; several groups have been established over the years around the state. The activity of such groups has been fluid; being established as needs were identified and then sometimes going into recess as needs or populations have shifted. CAN tries to maintain a list of key contacts in most areas where there are no active groups or where groups are in recess. Key contacts are members of CAN who have offered their knowledge and experience as volunteers to meet with and/or provide peer or community support via telephone or face to face on the local level.
CAN's greatest strength has been its ability to meet shifting community needs in a personalised and caring way while remaining committed to the values of access, equality and participation for all Victorians. It seems evident that needs are still shifting as populations seek out the "Sea/Tree Change"; relocating to regional Victoria in search of a better lifestyle. It's believed that some of CAN's greatest challenges lie ahead but we remain confident in facing these as long as there remains a handful of a dedicated, community-minded individuals.