[procaare] Re: UNAIDS is out of touch with reality and should be closeddown, says expert (1)

["Steve Tahuna" <Steve.Tahuna@vsoint.org>]

Re: UNAIDS is out of touch with reality and should be closeddown, says expert (1)
- Steve Tahuna, Malawi
***********

I think he has a lot of very valid points. However, he says HIV has not
been the global catastrophe that was predicted - but why not? Is there
(do we have) any hard evidence that all the work done on HIV over the
last two decades has been the major factor in preventing the predicted
global catastrophe or was it never going to happen anyway? Only proper
research into programming effectiveness will prove this but so much has
been done without proper baseline information especially in the early
days when nobody really knew what to do and there were so many knee jerk
reactions. How many of those expensive 4x4 cars with NAC logos have
really made a difference compared to how far the money could have gone
in providing first line ART and more nurses?

Look at the arguments on disease prevention from the point of view that
HIV is an entirely manageable health condition (albeit with vastly
expensive drugs - and insufficient attention paid to cure-research
rather than supporting the drug companies' preference for lifetime
dependency on their products - what a cynic I am!) just as other
conditions. He compares to diabetes, so often caused by lifestyle
"disorders' and yet has there been a similar amount of funding or effort
in preventive measures in those areas. Of course it can be argued that
diabetes was largely a disease of the richer world. Whereas TB,
Pneumonia, Malaria etc are clearly poverty related and also too
neglected. Prevention of chronic poverty related malnutrition as an
underlying condition for HIV, and all the poverty related diseases it
exaggerates openings for, to find excellent breeding grounds has been
sadly neglected. 

I disagree that the public health approach would have controlled
transmission, except that if this had been done through government who
could have been better supported to promote condom use and not left
largely to "evangelistic missionaries" with their "abstinence only" and
"no to condoms" message we would probably have made much more progress.

NB these are my personal views and not necessarily those of VSO Malawi

Steve Morris
Programme Manager - Food Security
VSO Malawi
Email: Steve.Tahuna@vsoint.org