Abstract
Heads of State—and perhaps more so husbands, wives, and even lovers—are surrounded by legions of speech writers whose job it is to put safe words into their dangerous mouths. We should not be too hard on politicians (or their partners) for being dependent on the knowledge of others. No single person can be an expert on economics, foreign affairs, health, and so on, through the menu of ministerial responsibilities that make up a modern government. Last week, The Lancet cohosted with UNAIDS the final meeting of our joint Commission on Defeating AIDS, Advancing Global Health. The Commission is chaired by Joyce Banda (President of Malawi), Nkosazana Zuma (Chair of the African Union), and Peter Piot (Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine). The event, hosted by Michel Sidibé (Executive Director of UNAIDS), included 40 Commissioners: among them the President of Ghana and the First Ladies of Gabon, Rwanda, and Japan. We expected speeches. What we got was a surprise.
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