‘Rapidly Growing Threat’ of HIV/AIDS May Lead to War, Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Say

Rich countries should "confront tragedies" like the HIV/AIDS pandemic "with the same sense of urgency devoted to the war on terrorism," according to many of the world's Nobel Peace Prize laureates, who met Thursday in Oslo, Norway, to discuss how to achieve peace in the 21st century, the Los Angeles Times reports. Speakers "stressed the gap between rich and poor" as a "fundamental" cause of war and terrorism. Some speakers also said that HIV is a "rapidly growing threat" that will bring "growing economic disruption and risks of war," in addition to "a huge death toll." Didier Cherpitel, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said that more people are expected to die of AIDS-related causes in the next decade than were killed in all the wars and natural disasters of the last 50 years. Cherpitel said, "Seven thousand (AIDS victims) died on Sept. 11. Who talks about that? Seven thousand people die of HIV every day. Life-saving drugs and treatment must be affordable and accessible" (Holley, Los Angeles Times, 12/7).