Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Miami Herald - July 12, 2004
An epic plague
A new U.N. report describes the scope of the tragedy: 38 million people are infected with HIV -- almost five million of them infected in just the last year; 15 million children orphaned by the disease. In sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS is destroying entire societies. In six African countries, more than one in five adults is infected with HIV. In more than 20 African counties, life expectancy has fallen below 45 years. Now the epidemic is spreading quickly through Asia.
Real solutions
By and large, solving the crisis is possible. National leadership and public-awareness campaigns can significantly reduce the rate of HIV transmission. For example, a serious national dialogue helped to pull Uganda away from high infection rates. Educational efforts that advocate abstinence, monogamy and condom use keep young people, migrant workers and rural farmers free from infection. New drugs now keep HIV-positive pregnant women from transmitting the disease to their babies.
Treatment also has improved. Life-saving anti-retroviral medicine now costs as little as 50 cents a day, and doctors are quickly becoming better at delivering it. Counseling and outreach can reduce cultural stigma and help HIV and AIDS patients live normal lives.
Merely having this knowledge and expertise isn't enough. The fundamental barrier to defeating AIDS isn't a lack of ability, but a lack of will. Stopping the disease requires a serious commitment by the United States and other wealthy nations.
Rhetoric, not funding
President Bush raised hopes last year when he said: ''A tremendous possibility within our grasp. . . . Seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many.'' But the president's actions didn't match his rhetoric. He has provided less than half the money he promised. Furthermore, too much funding is driven by ideology, not science. Funding should not be tied to a litmus test that prohibits condom use.
The U.N. report says that $12 billion is needed to fight AIDS worldwide in 2005. Another $20 billion will be needed in 2007. The United States should -- and easily can -- do its share. Properly funding the fight against AIDS ensures that people at risk are taught to protect themselves, that infected people are given the support they need to maintain a normal lifestyle, that infants are born HIV-negative, that people in need of drugs get them and that entire nations don't succumb to this disease.
It's a question of will.
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