Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - 10 July 1996
David Ljunggren
AIDS rates are highest in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa where prostitution is rife and women are traditionally seen as their husbands' property.
"How long will it take us to solve this? It depends on how much we want it. A lot of it is education, education and more education and involves a change of mentality," said Alphonse MacDonald, chief of the U.N. Population Fund's European office.
"I wouldn't dare to set a time frame. If we do not do something about correcting the imbalances between men and women, then we will not solve the problem and could waste a lot of money," he told a news conference.
Pramilla Senananyalke, assistant director-general of the International Planned Parenthood federation, said the fight against AIDS was no longer in the hands of doctors.
"If we had $50 billion we could provide the conditions to stamp out sexually transmitted diseases. Women have no control over their sexual and reproductive lives in many countries," she told the conference.
Professor Michael Adler of Britain's National Aids Trust said 8,500 people a day worldwide were becoming infected with the HIV virus which causes AIDS.
"One of the major things we have to do is raise the status of women to fight the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. This has to be done through education and employment.
"But I think these changes in society will take a long time so I can't be optimistic," he said.
Dr. Jose Llados of the U.N. Program on HIV and AIDS said money to fight the disease was dwindling.
"Many donors are suffering fatigue and are unwilling to donate more resources. This is a problem we'll face more and more in the future," he said, adding that businesses could play an increased role.
"In Latin America we are seeing a ruralization of epidemics. If we could persuade Coca-Cola to put an anti-AIDS message on their bottles this might help," he said.
"We're not just talking about giving money, but seeing what kinds of resources businesses are willing to make available."
Adler said there were more pressing reasons for the multinationals to chip in.
"The private sector should get involved because it's losing money. Banks in countries like Uganda are losing out because AIDS is killing so many of the middle managers on whom they have spent money training," he said.
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