Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Thu, 5 Jul 2001
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* African Leaders Attending Organization of African Unity Summit to
Address AIDS Pandemic
* Botswana 'Turns to Drugs' as Weapons of Choice to Fight HIV/AIDS
* Receiving Liberty Medal, Annan Links AIDS Battle, U.S. Fight for
Independence
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African Leaders Attending Organization of African Unity Summit to Ad-
dress AIDS Pandemic
African leaders who convene next week at the Organization of African
Unity summit meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, will work to "turn broken
promises on tackling the [AIDS] pandemic into long-overdue results,"
Reuters reports. Although the leaders declared a state of emergency
at a Nigerian AIDS conference in April, health officials note that
"many countries have barely begun to confront the virus." Sam Kali-
bala, medical associate at the Population Council, said, "Clearly
most of the leaders have been able to say the words 'AIDS.' ... The
next step is to give leadership that allows quick implementation of
AIDS programs in the countries." Kenya Network of Women with AIDS
Program Officer Rodah Nduku added, "We have so many 'big men' who are
infected. When they come out they will also encourage others." Al-
though few activists "seriously expect" any official to reveal his
HIV-positive status at the summit, the meeting will "throw a spot-
light on the many laggards in the AIDS race" (Green, Reuters, 7/3).
At the summit, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to re-
view African efforts to combat the AIDS pandemic and discuss the dis-
ease with heads of state and other officials, Zambian Foreign Minis-
try officials said on Tuesday. A senior Zambian official said, "[An-
nan] will dialogue with African leaders on crucial questions regard-
ing the continent's economic and political progress, namely the AIDS
pandemic and the many regional conflicts" (Reuters, 7/3).
--
Botswana 'Turns to Drugs' as Weapons of Choice to Fight HIV/AIDS
Botswana has mounted the "most aggressive awareness campaign" against
HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa, but health officials believe that anti-
retroviral drugs will prove to be the country's strongest weapons in
the fight against HIV/AIDS, Canada's National Post reports. Botswana,
which has the highest HIV infection rate in the world, has dispatched
educators to travel the country teaching about HIV/AIDS prevention.
Meanwhile, newspapers and radio stations are broadcasting numerous
discussions and ads calling for AIDS awareness, and the country's
health minister "made a public show of getting tested" for the virus.
However, these efforts have "not curbed the rate of HIV infection" in
Botswana, and the country has "turned to drug distribution" to ease
the problem (Schuler, National Post, 7/3). In March, Botswanan Presi-
dent Festus Mogae announced that the country plans to implement a
program to distribute antiretroviral drugs to "all who need (them)"
and will foot a "substantial" part of the program's bill (Kaiser
Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 3/15). Stephen Lewis, the U.N. special envoy
on AIDS in Africa, said that if the program is successful, "it will
provide momentum and encouragement to all the afflicted countries in
Africa and beyond. It will give heart to absolutely every country
worldwide." Lewis has mentioned sending nurses, health workers, tech-
nicians and teachers to "help the country along." The Post reports
that antiretrovirals "may be the best chance yet to break the cycle
of transmission," partly because they will encourage more people to
be tested for the virus in order to obtain the treatment. But other
developing nations may not be able to follow Botswana's lead. Bot-
swana does not have the problems of war, famine, "corruption" and
"massive" debt burden that plague other African countries, and its
health system is superior to those of most other African nations (Na-
tional Post, 7/3).
--
Receiving Liberty Medal, Annan Links AIDS Battle, U.S. Fight for In-
dependence
Speaking in Philadelphia yesterday at an Independence Day ceremony,
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan linked the global fight against
HIV/AIDS with the United States' "struggle for liberties" enumerated
in the Declaration of Independence (Reuters/New York Times, 7/4). At
the ceremony, Annan received the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, which
was created in 1988 to honor individuals and organizations demon-
strating "leadership in the pursuit of liberty" and carries a
$100,000 cash prize. Annan announced in May that he would donate the
prize to the Global AIDS and Health Fund (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Re-
port, 5/4). Speaking to "hundreds of onlookers" outside Philadel-
phia's Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was
adopted in 1776, Annan said, "When U.N. medical experts strive to
find new ways to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and treat its vic-
tims, from Africa to Asia, they are fighting for liberty." Annan also
hailed a $200 million contribution to the global AIDS fund made this
week by Japan, which brings the fund to $900 million. In addition,
Annan called on Congress to allocate $750 million to the fund on top
of a $200 million donation already made by the Bush administration.
After the speech, Annan told reporters, "In effect, [AIDS] is like a
third world war if you consider the numbers of people who have been
killed already by this epidemic. We have 30 million orphans already.
How many more do we have to get, to wake up?" (Reuters/New York
Times, 7/4).
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The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org,
a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National
Journal Group Inc. c 2001 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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