Wealthy Governments Lack ‘Political Will’ To Address HIV/AIDS Pandemic, Despite ‘Compelling’ Messages, Opinion Piece Says
Although U.N. Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis delivers "important and compelling" messages about the HIV/AIDS pandemic, wealthy governments lack the "political will" to take "massive action" to fight the disease, Harold Buchwald, a lawyer from Winnipeg, Canada, writes in a Winnipeg Free Press opinion piece. Over the past few years, Lewis, who is Canadian, has used his public appearances as a "segue to inform and cajole his audiences of the cause which is literally consuming him," according to Buchwald. Although Lewis' repetition of "his critical message[s]" has changed "hearts and minds," governments and the international community are "not mov[ed]" by his "passion," Buchwald writes. Moreover, Lewis receives "minimal" media coverage because "hardened journalists have heard it all before," according to Buchwald. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is "so large" that it cannot be "solved by individuals or groups whose efforts ... can at best only be minimal," Buchwald writes, concluding, "It will take massive action by all governments, and to date there hasn't been the political will" (Buchwald, Winnipeg Free Press, 11/2).
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