Eradicating HIV Will Take More Than Just Science

Researchers are scurrying around left and right in the fight to put an end to the HIV/AIDS epidemic that has snaked its way and taken a firm grip across the globe. According to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Lars Kallings, prevention methods need to be organized and beefed up if we have any hope of winning the fight against HIV. He firmly believes that there exist many obstacles to the fight, including myths that circle around HIV, complacency as to its current global state, denial by many governments in terms of its impacts, many countries’ tendencies to view women as subordinates and a lack of many governments to put their full political and monetary force behind the fight. 

Kallings states, “Trust in modern science is so great that people don’t like to consider the thought that it may not be possible to find a simple medical way to eradicate the virus. As a result, not enough attention is given to the social and economic aspects of HIV and AIDS and the fight against discrimination — factors that are vital if we are to respond to this epidemic.” He goes on to further reflect on what he feels is the underlying cause of the severity of the AIDS epidemic; a number of countries still view young girls and women as inferior and often show them contempt, “Many women are not able to say no to unwanted sex or ask their husbands to use condoms or be faithful. Stigmatization of women is another major issue, with many not daring to be tested or treated in case they are thrown out by their families, beaten or even killed.”

In his writings, Kallings has no problem touching many bold and controversial issues that have faced the epidemic since its origin over 25 years ago, including political, medical and religious theories. He states, “Money is no longer the main obstacle to treating the virus, as the cost has dramatically fallen in recent years. However, by 2010 a massive 42 billion US dollars will need to be spent to meet the goal of universal access to prevention, treatment and care and strengthen national healthcare systems. But even if it is made available, funding does not always reach the people who need it, because rulers in many countries are more interested in nursing their own power base and private fortune than the wellbeing of their people. The main problems lie with a lack of political will to influence attitudes, implement prevention and provide care, together with a lack of healthcare infrastructure, including the drain of trained health-care workers from developing countries to the West.”

With over 32 million people currently infected with the virus, Kallings feels that the dialogue should be once again ignited to get people out of their comfort zones and talking about the epidemic that claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year. The debate over abstinence-only and comprehensive sexual education campaigns has been raging across the globe for decades as we know. Kallings states, “Condom use is the least expensive and most cost-effective method for preventing HIV transmission. However, this protective measure is resisted by fundamentalist groups, such as the Vatican and the religious right in the USA, and may be a difficult subject in marriage”.

He cites many instances of disinformation campaigns spearheaded by governments worldwide that have caused millions of people to be infected because they were misled. He writes, “Bad governance has plagued many people in Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia during the course of the AIDS epidemic. This has meant that measures to prevent HIV transmission and to care for the infected and affected are often not implemented, even if resources are made available. Lack of political will, bad management and lack of infrastructure in many countries are causing an implementation crisis.”