Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report Summarizes Editorials, Opinion Pieces in Response to XV International AIDS Conference
Several newspapers published editorials and opinion pieces in response to the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Summaries of some of the editorials and opinion pieces appear below:
Editorials
Akron Beacon Journal: Despite the "progress" made in the last two decades in combating HIV/AIDS, including developing awareness and treatment programs and wider access to effective antiretroviral drugs, "political battles" between the United States and the United Nations are causing international efforts to fight the disease to "crumble," a Beacon Journal editorial says (Akron Beacon Journal, 7/19).
Detroit Free Press: While world leaders made "promises" to combat global HIV/AIDS at last week's conference, "access to treatment and money for prevention remain maddeningly slow in coming," a Detroit Free Press editorial says. Without a cure for the disease, the United States "needs to be even more of a leader in the effective use of resources" for prevention and treatment efforts, the editorial concludes (Detroit Free Press, 7/19).
Thailand's Nation: While the most "pressing" issues at last week's conference included greater access to treatment, increased funding from wealthy nations to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and an emphasis on prevention efforts, any attempts to contain the spread of the disease must "first and foremost" address poverty, gender inequality and human-rights violations against women and children, a Nation editorial says (Nation, 7/19).
Oregonian: Combating the global AIDS epidemic does not mean just "distributing condoms, preaching abstinence and paying for HIV-fighting drugs," an Oregonian editorial says. While those methods are "essential," U.S. support of socioeconomic development in resource-poor regions and support of generic drugs are "just as important," the editorial concludes (Oregonian, 7/18).
Orlando Sentinel: President Bush "wastes money and dooms many AIDS patients to death by going his own way" in the fight against HIV/AIDS, a Sentinel editorial says. Although Bush "deserves credit" for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, giving $1 billion to the Global Fund "would be better" because it "pools resources and coordinates efforts," the editorial says (Orlando Sentinel, 7/20).
Raleigh News & Observer: Where medicine is concerned in the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the U.S. government is "titled toward the interests of the pharmaceutical industry," a News & Observer editorial says. The United States has a "vital interest" in fighting the disease, and drug competition that could lower the price of generic antiretroviral treatment should not be delayed, the editorial concludes (Raleigh News & Observer, 7/19).
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: The United States, the European Union and the World Health Organization "wasted more time bickering over who was doing more" instead of advancing the fight against HIV/AIDS at last week's conference, a Democrat and Chronicle editorial says. The disease "demands global cooperation" and the United States must "move forward with an attitude of cooperation" as it develops PEPFAR, the editorial concludes (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 7/19).
Seattle Times: In the fight against the HIV/AIDS, "billions of dollars have been spent and billions more promised," a Seattle Times editorial says. It is therefore not "heartless" to establish a "strong evaluation process" so that we do not "simply do some good in the battle against the spread of HIV, but ... do the best good our money can buy," the editorial concludes (Seattle Times, 7/19).
Opinion Pieces
Lawrence Altman, New York Times: This year's conference was an "unrecognizable descendant" of the first conference held in Atlanta in 1985, New York Times health writer Lawrence Altman writes in a Times health column. AIDS conferences have become "boisterous political circuses" where science takes a "back seat" to the social, economic, political and legal aspects of the epidemic, Altman writes. However, it is possible that both "scientific advances and political circuses have useful roles in stopping the spread of AIDS," Altman concludes (Altman, New York Times, 7/20).
Michael Fumento, Washington Times: The "exaggeration" of the AIDS pandemic means that the disease will always "refuse to live up to the official predictions" because the "louder the alarms," the more "contributions roll in," Fumento, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, writes in a Times opinion piece. HIV/AIDS is still a "terrible disease affecting all countries," which is why the United States must "know precisely where and how to spend" its money, Fumento says, concluding, "Unfortunately, neither the United Nations nor its media allies are about to tell us" (Fumento, Washington Times, 7/19).
Sebastian Mallaby, Washington Post: While global HIV/AIDS advocates have "worked miracles" in the past few years, their "hostility" toward the Bush administration and PEPFAR overshadows the "bottom line" that the United States' AIDS initiative is "huge and serious," columnist Mallaby writes in a Post opinion piece. AIDS advocates would "do better" to focus on countries like Japan and South Korea -- countries that give "shockingly little" to HIV/AIDS initiatives -- because in the effort to combat the disease, it "pays to pick your targets wisely," Mallaby says (Mallaby, Washington Post, 7/19).
Daniel Sneider, San Jose Mercury News: Progress in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic "only comes when leaders face the truth and create public awareness," columnist Sneider writes in a Mercury News opinion piece. Although Bush has shown "leadership" in increasing U.S. funding to fight the pandemic, the countries funded under his program are picked "based on ideology" (Sneider, San Jose Mercury News, 7/18).
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