The photo booth organised by the South Western Sydney Local Health District at Eid Show at Bankstown was a big hit!

The booth provided added fun for those visiting our hepatitis B information stall, according Faten Solaqa, project officer for the Arabic Community Hepatitis B Project.

“Not only did the booth give visitors to our stall visitors a fun photo experience, it meant they went home with a lasting memory of the big day plus a valuable health message about hepatitis B,” said Ms Solaqa.

Hundreds of hepatitis B resources were distributed at the event including Hepatitis B: It's a family business booklet produced by the MHAHS in English and Arabic.

Ms Solaqa revealed how she also hammed it up at the festival.

“I used a few props to take photos with my friends. One look at the photos and the event is as real as it was on the day. The photos are also social media friendly allowing me share them and spread the word about hepatitis B on email, facebook and instagram from my mobile,” said Ms Solaqa.

Please visit us at www.facebook.com/TheMHAHS.

The MHAHS in partnership with South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) is set to welcome Eid with a three- day health information stall at Annual Islamic Eid Show at Bankstown Showground from 15-17 June.

Eid Al-Fitr is the most important religious and cultural festival for the Muslim community and is held at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

MHAHS Hepatitis B Project Officer, Faten Solaqa, who is co-organising the stall said Eid is one of the most vibrant festivals and is open to people of all cultural backgrounds.

"We're excited the festival provides us a platform to reach thousands of people with free health information. We are focused on highlighting the importance of people asking their doctor for a hepatitis B test and seeking timely treatment, if necessary,” said Ms Solaqa.

"We are also delighted to work with the team from South Western Sydney Local Health District to further our joint project to increase hepatitis B awareness among Arabic-speaking communities,” said Ms Solaqa.

Visitors to our stall can discuss hepatitis B with Arabic-speaking staff and get Hepatitis B: it’s a family business information booklet in either English and Arabic. They can also have their photo taken at the photo booth and get a free, personalised Eid and health message to share on their mobile devices.

More than 100 thousand people are expected to attend the festival in Sydney and Melbourne. In addition to numerous sumptuous food stalls, there will be vendors selling cultural artifacts, family and fun activities for kids, and much more.

WHAT: Annual Islamic Eid Show
WHERE: Bankstown Showgrounds,  178 Eldridge Rd, Condell Park NSW 2200
WHEN: 15-17 June, 2pm – 9pm on Friday & 10am – 9pm on Saturday & Sunday. Hepatitis B stall will operate between 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm on all three days.

For more details about the Eid Show visit www.eidshow.com. 

Positive Life NSW has launched 7 Good Reasons to test for HIV Now with a sneak peek screening of a powerful new documentary Nothing Without Us at Dendy Cinemas Newtown on 4th June. The film, yet to be released in Australia, tells the story of the exemplary role women living with HIV have played and continue to play in the global HIV response.

Positive Life NSW CEO, Craig Cooper, said the launch of 7 Good Reasons to test for HIV Now is part of HIV Testing Week. The new multilingual resource was developed by Positive Life NSW, Multicultural HIV and Hepatitis Service (MHAHS) and Pozhet.



“The theme for this year is Never Tested for HIV? Get tested today. The campaign is asking people at risk to get tested for  HIV because roughly one in ten people living with HIV don’t know they have the virus,” said Mr Cooper. 
 
Thirty percent of people who are newly diagnosed with HIV are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and HIV affects people of all genders, cultures, languages and nationalities.

“We are pleased to partner with the Positive Life NSW and Pozhet who are reaching out to people from culturally diverse backgrounds,” said Barbara Luisi, manager of the MHAHS.

"We are excited to continue our partnership and complement their work across NSW”.

7 Good Reasons to test for HIV Now is a companion resource to 7 Good Reasons to Start HIV Treatment Now.

The digital resource covers seven of the key reasons why people should get tested for HIV in plain everyday language and was  designed to engage people with low literacy skills who may be also from diverse cultural backgrounds.

It  has been developed in English, Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese.

The resource is available on the MHAHS website at  http://mhahs.org.au/index.php/en/hiv/7-reasons-to-test.

MHAHS, a statewide service focused on increasing awareness of HIV and viral hepatitis in the diverse communities in NSW, will present at Sydney Local Health District Population Health All Staff Forum held in Sydney on May 29, 2018.

The forum brings together the key population health services Health Promotion Unit, Multicultural Health Unit (MHU), MHAHS, Bilingual Community Education Program, Sydney Health Care Interpreter Service, HIV and Related Programs Health Promotion Team and Heterosexual HIV Service (Pozhet).

Barbara Luisi, Manager of the MHAHS, said, “We are looking forward to the forum. MHAHS has always valued the opportunity to work in partnership with other agencies including those within the Population Health. We are confident the forum will ensure better understanding between the various teams and will help develop more opportunities for collaboration into the future.”

 The MHAHS team will share insights into the current state of the HIV and viral hepatitis among diverse communities and present a snapshot of our work and team, with our cultural support officers being at our core.

The MHAHS presentation is scheduled on Tuesday, May 29, at 10:30 a.m. EST.