Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report Summarizes Editorials, Opinion Pieces on Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic
Several newspapers have published editorials and opinion pieces focusing on HIV/AIDS-related issues to mark the XV International AIDS Conference, which began on Sunday in Bangkok, Thailand, and runs through July 16. Summaries of some of the editorials and opinion pieces appear below:
Editorials
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Arizona Republic: While the "threat" of the global AIDS epidemic "has never been higher," the world's "ability to control it has never been greater," a Republic editorial says. Education, prevention, outreach and treatment strategies, along with increased funding commitments to global initiatives, are the most effective ways of controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS, the editorial concludes (Arizona Republic, 7/12).
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Chicago Tribune: Because the HIV/AIDS epidemic "keeps outpacing efforts to contain it," more needs to be done to distribute antiretroviral drugs -- including reconsidering FDA's policy to retest generic drugs that have already been vetted by the World Health Organization, a Tribune editorial says. The double-processing is "unwarranted and only delays delivery of essential medicines," the Tribune concludes (Chicago Tribune, 7/12).
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Los Angeles Times: Without better training on how to teach health care workers HIV prevention methods, children are "more likely to repeat the mistakes of their parents and continue to spread the disease," a Times editorial says, concluding, "[T]he war on AIDS can be won only with a fight on many fronts, not just by giving poor countries more cash to buy drugs" (Los Angeles Times, 7/12).
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Miami Herald: The "fundamental barrier" to stemming the HIV/AIDS epidemic is not ability but will, a Herald editorial says. While counseling, outreach and public-awareness campaigns provide knowledge and expertise, financial commitments on the part of wealthy nations -- including the United States -- ultimately make prevention and treatment measures effective, the editorial says, concluding, "The United States should -- and easily can do its share" (Miami Herald, 7/12).
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Minneapolis Star Tribune: Because the global HIV/AIDS epidemic has worsened since the 2002 International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain, HIV/AIDS advocates must continue to "hammer away at the trilogy of what works": education and awareness programs, prevention and treatment while wealthy nations must financially "fully support" global initiatives, a Star Tribune editorial says (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 7/13).
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Newark Star-Ledger: Both the successes and failures of the continuing fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic provide "a lesson to learn" -- HIV/AIDS can be contained with resources and leadership that require an adequate and sustained financial commitment from the United States and other wealthy nations, a Star-Ledger editorial says (Newark Star-Ledger, 7/10).
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Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News: AIDS is "more than a global health crisis" because it creates the potential for the development and proliferation of terrorism worldwide, a Morning News editorial says. Global HIV/AIDS initiatives therefore would save lives and "stem the spread of terrorist activities," the editorial concludes (Deseret Morning News, 7/11).
Opinion Pieces
- Enriqueta Bond, Washington Post: The global HIV/AIDS epidemic has recently overshadowed the "accelerating" malaria epidemic that has affected more people in the past two decades than HIV/AIDS, Bond, president of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, writes in a Post opinion piece (Bond, Washington Post, 7/12).
- Jane Eisner, Philadelphia Inquirer: It is a "shame" that the United States has to choose between funding prevention initiatives and treating people living with HIV/AIDS, Inquirer columnist Eisner writes in an opinion piece. Because both approaches are necessary, the United States should be "compassionate enough to do more than one," Eisner concludes (Eisner, Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/11).
- Desmond Tutu, Guardian: Even the "greatest speeches do not save lives ... [a]id does," Tutu, former archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, says in a London Guardian opinion piece. To combat global HIV/AIDS and poverty, wealthy nations should "tak[e] action" on international trade regulations and debt owed by developing countries and "[d]ramatically" increase aid to "heal not only the physical suffering of the poor south, but also the moral suffering of the rich north," Tutu concludes (Tutu, Guardian, 7/12).