Preventing AIDS in the developing world

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) was criticized at the 9th International Conference on AIDS in Berlin by an ACT UP spokesman for lacking a coordinated strategy against HIV and AIDS. ACT UP further called for the implementation of networks of effective treatment and care programs in lieu of continued pilot projects, and urged the World Bank to write off loans to nations most jeopardized by AIDS. Dr. Dean Jamison of the Bank discounted the viability of such loan forgiveness on the basis of equity. Funding should instead come from developing countries with the help of developed nations, the private sector, and international bodies. Declining age at first intercourse has led to half of all HIV infections worldwide occurring among individuals under age 25 years; HIV spread among the young is the main driving force behind the pandemic. Professor Peter Piot of WHO emphasized the importance of focusing efforts on women; paying attention to nongovernmental organizations as a group which receives 15% of WHO country funding; and taking issue with those who claim that no HIV/AIDS epidemic exists in Africa. Coordinated action taken to provide condoms, treat sexually transmitted diseases, and eradicate HIV could prevent up to 4 million infections in Africa, 4 million in Asia, and 1 million in Latin America. The director of the WHO's Global Program on AIDS, Dr. Michael Merson, asserted that half of all new HIV infections predicted for the developing world for the rest of the decade could be prevented if another $1.5-2.9 billion annually were invested in nations' HIV prevention strategies. These investments would save $90 billion in health costs and lost economic activity by the end of the century. Such an outlay is minuscule next to the $49 billion cost to Kuwait of the military Operation Desert Storm.