AEGiS-IAPAC: Report from the President - Full Partners in the Struggle

Report from the President - Full Partners in the Struggle

IAPAC Monthly - Vol. 8, No. 5, May 2002
José M. Zuniga

Each month, as I put pen to paper and draft my message to members and allies of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC), I am filled with mixed feelings of concern and hope. Needless to say, it is at these moments of quiet reflection that the success of our efforts, as well as general developments in the struggle against the HIV/AIDS pandemic are most fully measured in my mind. Doubtless, these conflicting sentiments are shared by each of us who is seriously committed to and engaged in this struggle.

Our personal introspection and the sheer magnitude of death and suffering that we witness continue to drive us to act swiftly. Foremost, we must congratulate ourselves for the passion and compassion that we have been able to harness in this respect. Yet, I would also suggest that where we are intent on making a truly deep impact through our energies, it is equally important that we take time to step back from our work in order to gain full sight of the landscape as it stands before us. We must take count not only of what is being done, but also how and by whom.

When we look at the AIDS pandemic at this moment in time, we should remark that incredible strides have been made in the clinical management of HIV disease. However, what is equally evident is that HIV/AIDS remains a global plague that disproportionately affects countries and populations in resource-limited settings. Moreover, glaring disparities continue to be exhibited, the world over, when we look at some of the ways in which race, class, and gender intercede in the general prevalence of HIV disease. Paradoxically, we see at the same time that not only funding, but also policy and programmatic decision making, continue to flow primarily from the rich, industrialized countries of the North, to the poorer and often beleaguered nations of the South. Thus, when we ask not simply what is being done, but also how and by whom, it is clear that many voices that need to be heard remain at the periphery of our collective struggle.

Though these facts are in plain sight, I fear that they continue to receive an inadequate amount of our attention and consideration. I am not suggesting that we are blind to this paradox, but that it is all too often accepted, if grudgingly, as simply the unfortunate reality of the day. This is something for which we share collective responsibility and something that we must resolve, together, to change.

While IAPAC is not above some criticism for the limited vehicles through which the association’s core programming activity has, in the past, been determined, I am incredibly pleased to announce some recent and important changes in this regard. That is to say that, over the past months, IAPAC has taken some very significant steps to ensure that commitment to fulfilling our mission is driven by a truly international perspective; one which strives to incorporate resource-limited countries and the populations most affected by the pandemic, as full partners in the struggle.

I report with great pleasure that in April 2002, the IAPAC Board of Trustees elected three individuals of very high global esteem and integrity. IAPAC’s three new Trustees are Elly Katabira, Associate Dean of the Makerere University Medical School in Kampala, Uganda; Celso Ramos-Filho, Associate Professor in the Department of Preventative Medicine at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro’s School of Medicine in Brazil; and Rubin Phillip, Bishop of the Diocese of Natal- Coastal Area within the Anglican Church of the Province of Southern Africa in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Collectively, these three longtime allies bring to IAPAC an impressive track record in the clinical management of HIV/ AIDS and/or human rights advocacy. Both individually and in combination, their international experience and in-depth knowledge of the obstacles faced at both country and regional levels will greatly enhance the international scope of the association’s activities and the appropriateness and integrity of our program lines.

Ramos-Filho, who serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of JIAPAC, IAPAC’s quarterly peer-review journal, was an instrumental organizing committee member for the first four IAPAC-sponsored International Conferences on Healthcare Resource Allocation for HIV/AIDS, and served as Chair of the fifth such conference, which took place last month in his native city. In this capacity, and in addition to his full-time teaching and research post at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Ramos-Filho has been a key figure in the call for increased funding for the battle against HIV/AIDS in the developing world. Furthermore, he has been a significant contributor to the public policy discussions that underlie his country’s exemplary success in both curbing their national epidemic and establishing quality AIDS care delivery mechanisms for HIV-infected Brazilian men, women, and children.

Katabira, who counts on a much deserved reputation as a leading figure in HIV clinical and public health management, both on the African continent and abroad, is former Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Region Office (AFRO), located in Harare, Zimbabwe. Since 2001, he has served as Co- Chair of IAPAC’s Global AIDS Learning & Evaluation Network (GALEN). His keen and broad knowledge not only of medical practice, but also of the obstacles and challenges to public healthcare provision on the African continent, has been an invaluable addition to the sum of voices advancing the GALEN agenda. His voice will now help guide the advancement of IAPAC’s global mission.

Phillip is a prominent example not only of the moral and ethical guidance that must be central to IAPAC’s activities, but also of the diversity of callings and experience that must drive public health efforts. In both his ecumenical work and civil rights advocacy in South Africa, Phillip has demonstrated a powerful determination to speak truth to power, standing up to the human rights abuses of the South African apartheid government during the heights of its cruelty. Yet, his work on behalf of his people continues through to this day, and Phillip remains active in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in southern Africa, with special attention to human rights surrounding access to treatment.

Also soon to join the IAPAC Board of Trustees is longtime member Praphan Phanuphak, who is Director of the Thai Red Cross Society HIV/AIDS Research Centre in Bangkok. Phanuphak is a prominent clinician and researcher who has been on the frontlines of combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Thailand. He has served on the Organizing Committee of the past five IAPAC International Conferences on Healthcare Resource Allocation for HIV/AIDS, and is a member of the JIAPAC Editorial Advisory Board. Phanuphak’s appointment to the IAPAC Board of Trustees will take place in late May 2002.

In addition to these valuable additions to the IAPAC Board of Trustees, I am pleased to announce the appointment of a new interim Executive Director for IAPAC’s Southern Africa Regional Office (SARO), located in Johannesburg, South Africa. Effective May 2002, Mulamba Diese, a practicing physician, will assume this position. Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, he has been a leading figure in the clinical management of HIV/AIDS on the African continent for almost 20 years.

Diese has resided in Johannesburg for 11 years, where he has both practiced clinical medicine and, more recently, served as IAPAC-SARO’s Deputy Director. He is now charged with the critical responsibility of ensuring that IAPAC’s mandate of providing physician support and advocating for equitable and appropriate access to HIV care and support services, is carried forth in the world’s most HIV affected region. Diese’s appointment as interim Executive Director will soon be followed by an intensive, international search for a permanent Executive Director.

With the addition of these colleagues to the various ranks of IAPAC’s leadership structure, an extremely high level of clinical and public health expertise is being brought to the decision-making table. What is of even greater significance, however, is the invaluable contribution of practical and culturally diverse experience that our new IAPAC Board of Trustees and staff members will provide, in ultimately ensuring that the delivery of services and care within resource-limited settings effectively reaches men, women, and children in greatest need.

IAPAC does not rest satisfied with these important appointments. Nonetheless, they signify a strengthened commitment to providing a comprehensive and fully inclusive response to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. This marks but the beginning of what I am confident is a new and very promising chapter in the history of our association. A heartfelt welcome and message of congratulations goes out to each of IAPAC’s new Trustee and staff appointees. May their strength and leadership help to guide us as we battle complacency and advance commitment in our struggle against the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

José M. Zuniga is President of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care and Editor-in-Chief of the IAPAC Monthly.

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