Dázon Dixon Diallo, MPH, founder and president of SisterLove Inc. is working on the front lines in the struggle for women’s human rights and the fight against HIV/AIDS. Dr. Diallo and SisterLove are fighting on behalf of women from Atlanta to South Africa living with HIV.
SisterLove has an extensive history as a community-based advocate and educator of evidence-based prevention options for women. In 1999, SisterLove began to expand their expertise to Gauteng, South Africa, and in 2002 to the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. Their finite vision was to work with local community-based groups to address the HIV epidemic through sustainable organizational and program development.
SisterLove’s innovative programs from Atlanta to Africa
SisterLove recently received funding for the DREAMS Innovation Challenge, supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The DREAMS partnership is designed to reduce HIV infection among adolescent girls and young women in 10 high-impact areas, which include Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In addition to DREAMS, Dr. Diallo, also mentioned iSTARSHIPP — Innovative Strategies for Those At Risk Seeking High Impact Prevention & PrEP — which is a project of SisterLove International South Africa. “iSTARSHIPP is an innovative suite of strategies intended to accelerate the reduction of new HIV infections among AGYW and their male counterpart,” she said. The primary goal for iSTARSHIPP is to educate, prepare, advocate and support communities, especially women/girls and young men, for the implementation of High Impact Prevention programs including prevention technologies such as PrEP, PEP, TasP, microbicides and vaccines.
It is SisterLove’s belief that HIV and sexual and reproductive oppression of all women and their communities in the U.S. and around the world can be eradicated through programs such as DREAMS and iSTARSHIPP.
The accompanying photographs show the U.S. and South Africa teams implementing their two-year contingency plans. “[The meeting] was an inspiring, memorable and unifying experience and a perfect kick off to an exciting collective effort,” said Dr. Diallo.
