Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - November 29, 2007
Nearly one-third of the 3,500 people surveyed in the seven wealthiest nations said they know little or nothing about the HIV and AIDS epidemic, according to the survey released Thursday. Twenty-five percent also said they thought the media "greatly exagerrated" the threat of AIDS.
"For those millions of people the disease HIV is simply not real," said Richard E. Sterns, President of World Vision USA, a U.S.-based Christian aid group that conducted the survey with the polling firm Ipsos. "It's not personal, it is somebody else's problem and somebody's else's disease."
"Leaders must put a face on the pandemic because for people to take action, AIDS must affect them in a personal way," Sterns told a news conference.
The first-ever attitude survey by World Vision and Ipsos indicated that people are willing to do more to help alleviate the crisis, but found that a lack of education and awareness often places it in the shadows.
According to the survey, 20 percent of respondents said they did not expect their governments to meet goals set at a summit in 2005 of the Group of Eight major industrial powers. The summit called for universal access to comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention programs, treatment and care and support by 2010, and the development and strengthening of African health systems.
The survey, which comes as groups are ramping up awareness efforts ahead of World AIDS Day on Saturday, randomly polled 400 people in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Britain and Japan and 1,000 in the United States by telephone. The margin of error was 2.6 percent. All seven countries are in the Group of Eight, along with Russia.
The survey showed that Canada had the highest level of empathy toward those affected by the AIDS crisis, while Japan had the lowest.
The study also revealed that half of Americans surveyed would be willing to pay more taxes if the money went to AIDS treatment, research and care.
"That's a message that our politicians I think are not aware of," Sterns said, adding that he wants the U.S. government and elected officials to see the data because it shows that citizens of seven countries were ahead of their governments.
"About 75 to 80 percent of the citizens felt their governments were not doing enough," Sterns said. "I don't think Washington realizes that many Americans care about AIDS at that level. I think it will encourage them to do more."
Sterns thanked President George W. Bush and Congress for the $15 billion (Ç10.18 billion) pledged in 2004 under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and for Bush's desire to double the contribution to $30 billion (Ç20.36 billion).
The poll reported 90 percent agreement among participants that there is a moral obligation to respond to the AIDS crisis, which Sterns called "astounding."
The study also showed that 80 percent of participants worldwide said they think their governments should do more to assist children orphaned by AIDS and the related illnesses.
About 15 million children have lost a parent to AIDS, Sterns said and cited them as the key to the future of the AIDS epidemic.
"They are very likely to become the eco-boom of the AIDS pandemic as they come of age, perhaps become infected themselves and continue the cycle in a downward way," Sterns said.
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