Mbeki vs. the AIDS Establishment... (5)
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Dear colleagues,
Dr Balint Sandor is right.
As an African scientist who has been involved in research into
HIV/AIDS control for more than a decade I have this to say to my col-
leagues. Lets move on and take what President Mbeki has said as a
challenge for us to be on the forefront (rather than mere followers)
in this battle against AIDS that is killing our people. If we were
leading this debate from the beginning, a lot of what is being said
would not have arisen in the first place.
What is often forgotten is that without President Mbeki speaking on
this subject (maybe because we were too silent) there would have been
no real substantive discussion about the AIDS problem in Africa. I
believe us African scientists must be candid enough to take a lot of
the blame for not showing leadership or providing our leaders with
home-grown alternative proposals to tackle the problem of AIDS that
is ravaging our people.
I think what President Mbeki has done is to challenge African scien-
tists to take a lead in addressing the problem of AIDS as it requires
African solutions where resources are limited. Some of the biomedical
recommendations being made are simply not sustainable in most African
countries. Ironically only South Africa could implement some of the
biomedical solutions proposed. Criticising him ad finitum for his
viewpoint is simply trying to dig our heads in the sand.
The best initiatives do not always originate from the North and it is
a pity that African scientists do not see the opportunity arising
from Mbeki's intervention. What alternatives have we put forward from
our African experiences. In 2000 alone, Zimbabwe is poised to raise a
billion Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) through a tax levy for HIV/AIDS con-
trol and care. Will this reverse the tide? Even the Ugandan and Sene-
galese success stories on behaviour change have not been well docu-
mented and publicised as the way forward. What are the impediments in
Botswana where the political leadership is reported to have shown a
high level of commitment but HIV is amongst the highest in the world?
What are the optimal conditions to replicate these experiences?
Local scientists need to come up with alternative ideas and solutions
to move this debate forward to help the people of Africa who are dy-
ing from this disease and work and influence our political leaders in
a constructive way. That is the only win win solution for tackling
the problem of AIDS in Africa rather than to be distracted by periph-
eral issues and use the debate initiated by President Mbeki for
fruitless discourse.
I am happy to hear proposals from African colleagues and overseas
counterparts of how we can tap African science potential to stem the
tide of HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Dr. S. Chandiwana
Director
Blair Research Institute
P.O. Box CY 573, Causeway
Harare, Zimbabwe
Tel: +263-4-707529
Fax: +263-4-792480
mailto:chandiwana@blair.co.zw
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