SAMESH
COMMUNITY GROUP OF THE YEAR
NOMINATED FOR
Adelaide
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How would you describe yourself or your work in one sentence?
SAMESH provides support, education and training about Sexual Health and HIV for men who have sex with men and people living with HIV, as well as services for the broader LGBTIQ community in South Australia.
Tell us a little about what you do
SAMESH was created in 2015 as part of a joint initiative between SHINE SA and Thorne Harbour Health (formerly the Victorian AIDS Council). This innovative approach to service delivery answers a need within South Australia for community-based support for education, training and advocacy of sexual health and HIV. SAMESH is a meshing of the best parts of two organisations to create something unique and powerful specifically positioned to assist the South Australian community.
What impact or achievement are you most proud of this year?
From handing out condoms and lube at events and raising awareness about current outbreak trends and notifications to creating world first exhibition programming highlighting the history of HIV, SAMESH is an important part of the HIV prevention landscape in SA.
Why does your work matter to the community?
We lead the SA landscape with state of the art health promotion, community mobilisation, empowerment, and engagement together with a range of activities and initiatives to get involved with from peer education, outreach to community development.
We provide our community with a range of services and initiatives all designed to provide people with information, education, and programs to enhance their sexual health and well-being. These services are open to people of all cultural backgrounds and gender experiences.
What would you like voters to know when voting for you?
Now is a time of unprecedented change in sexual health. HIV has become a chronic manageable infection and we’ve never had so many tools to prevent new infections, from condoms and water-based lube to PEP, PrEP and Undetectable Viral Load. All other sexually transmitted infections can be treated successfully as long as people get tested regularly to maintain their sexual health. We are at a point in time where we can end HIV and enjoy better sexual health than ever before. South Australia Mobilisation + Empowerment for Sexual Health is part of that story.