Tags:
Journalism of Courage
As the 14th international AIDS conference at Barcelona winds down, new insights into this global pandemic have surfaced. Among them is the unmistakable conclusion that HIV/AIDS, even though it has been scaring the world for the last two decades and more, is in the early stages of its development yet. What this means is that its potential to grow in an explosive fashion is still very much on the cards, despite the remarkable medical advances to contain it. And when you are talking of a disease that has already affected 40 million people, and which claimed 3 million lives in 2001 alone, this is plain scary.
Given this reality, playing the ostrich will help no one and no nation. In fact, it is precisely those countries that have taken on the disease frontally 8212; like Brazil and Thailand 8212; which have reported the most promising breakthroughs in its successful management. Brazil, for instance, has been able to keep the numbers of new HIV infections down by establishing the legal right to free medication. Consequently, the number of those who died of AIDS in Brazil in 2000 was a third of the 1996 figure. The cost-saving in terms of a healthier population more that offsets the expenses incurred in this drug-access model of HIV/AIDS management.
