With nearly twice as many of the world's poorest people now having access to AIDS antiviral drugs as did just two years ago, you would think that the International AIDS Conference being held in Bangkok, Thailand, this week would have cause to celebrate.
But while there are a number of success stories, the spread of the epidemic to Asia and the lack of follow-through on promises by rich nations mean that the AIDS virus is continuing to gain ground at the expense of humanity. Worldwide, 38 million people are infected with AIDS, including the estimated five million who have been infected in the past year alone. In the past 20 years, 20 million people have died from the disease, including 2.2 million in 2003 - 75 per cent of whom lived in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Asia is now seeing the fastest spread of HIV. In India, over four million cases have been reported - 10 per cent of the world total. And China is expected to see its number of HIV cases increase to 10 million within the next six years if infection rates continue at current levels. However, most experts say that AIDS is unlikely to become as widespread of an epidemic in Asia because of cultural and economic differences between the regions. In fact, Thailand has been a success story in AIDS prevention, largely because of an intensive educational campaign and aggressive condom promotion to sex-trade workers.
Take the Nature Challenge and learn more at
|
Still, good prevention programs are largely found in the wealthier of developing nations. Only one in five people at risk in the developing world are reached by such programs. Effective HIV treatment drugs reach ever fewer. In 2003, a person living with HIV in a developing country was eight times more likely to die from AIDS than was a person living with the virus in a wealthy country like Canada. Even if drugs are available, they are often far too expensive. Caring for an infected family member in a developing country often eats up over one-third of an entire household's budget. Often, monthly incomes plummet when family members are unable to work because they have to take care of brothers, sisters or parents with AIDS.
This has repercussions throughout the country's society. With far fewer people in the workforce and far fewer people in the fields, agricultural production often drops. By 2020, it is estimated that 20 per cent of southern Africa's farm workers will have died from AIDS. In an area that already faces chronic food shortages, this loss of workforce could lead to an increase in famine.
Caring for sick family members also exacts a high toll on children, who are often forced to drop out of school. Some areas of Africa are also facing chronic shortages of teachers, doctors and other skilled workers, making education and treatment more challenging, and eating away at the region's economy.
This is why AIDS is not just a health crisis - it's much more. It's an economic, development, social and moral one. Rich countries have stepped up with promises of funding, but these funds are still far short of the $20 billion needed annually to effectively control the disease. And some funding has actually decreased. The United States, under influence from "family values" advocates, continues to hamper sex education and birth control programs in developing countries. Since 2001, the U.S. has blocked millions in aid for family planning programs. As a result, women around the world have also lost access to many HIV prevention services.
It's not all bad news. Success stories like those from Thailand, Brazil and Uganda, provide hope. By working to improve education and the availability of antiviral therapies, and by building relationships with women and local communities, these countries have managed to control the epidemic. In the early 1990s, Uganda had a 31 per cent infection rate, the highest in all of Sub-Saharan Africa. By 2003, it had dropped to 6.3 per cent.
In the next decade, 45 million new HIV infections are projected. UNAIDS says that 29 million of those could be prevented through comprehensive prevention measures. If humanity manages to pull together and make that happen, it really would give us something to celebrate.
