Bill Gates and Bill Clinton at the conference
The XVI International AIDS Conference
The AIDS 2006 conference is over for another two years. So will anything come out of six days of debates, discussions, workshops and speeches? Christian Aid's International Editor, Judith Melby, reviews the conference and finds that funding is still top of the agenda.
The weeklong International AIDS Conference closes with a warning that the HIV pandemic needs long-term, sustained financial commitments. Prevention and treatment have to be prioritised to curb the epidemic.
The XVI International AIDS Conference marked the moment when it was acknowledged that HIV is going to be with us for the foreseeable future; the time of talk of silver bullets, quick fixes and crisis management is over.
The 24,000 delegates heard repeatedly that it’s time for sustained financial commitments. After 25 years of the disease there is a huge amount of scientific knowledge; we know that good prevention practices, which value science over ideology, work, that antiretrovirals prolong life. There is exciting research into microbicides and other female-controlled prevention tools.
The XVI International AIDS Conference marked the moment when it was acknowledged that HIV is going to be with us for the foreseeable future; the time of talk of silver bullets, quick fixes and crisis management is over.
The 24,000 delegates heard repeatedly that it’s time for sustained financial commitments. After 25 years of the disease there is a huge amount of scientific knowledge; we know that good prevention practices, which value science over ideology, work, that antiretrovirals prolong life. There is exciting research into microbicides and other female-controlled prevention tools.
All this takes money
‘Countries are very frightened that they won’t have sustainable funding,” said the UN’s special envoy for HIV in Africa, Stephen Lewis. ‘They just don’t know what’s going to happen down the road, in 2008, 2009, 2010. People are on treatment. People are being kept alive because of the money. If the money does not flow and the drugs are interrupted, people die. That’s simply an unthinkable proposition. This is simply a matter of life or death.’
HIV is a dynamic epidemic and virus, which is outpacing the world’s response. Time, energy and money have been wasted on the debate over whether prevention or treatment should be the priority. A twin track approach of prevention and treatment is essential. The number of new infections – four million last year – far outstripped the number of new people on antiretroviral drugs.
HIV is a dynamic epidemic and virus, which is outpacing the world’s response. Time, energy and money have been wasted on the debate over whether prevention or treatment should be the priority. A twin track approach of prevention and treatment is essential. The number of new infections – four million last year – far outstripped the number of new people on antiretroviral drugs.
Gender equality
The need for gender equality is also vital. Gender inequality is driving the pandemic and women’s rights must become paramount. Some researchers say that women will soon make up the majority of the world’s infections. The epidemic is spreading fastest among young women aged 16 to 24.
Prevention methods will have to change. The traditional ABC (Abstain, Be faithful and use a Condom) does not take into account the vulnerable position of women in developing countries who cannot always control their sexual relations.
ABC stigmatises women, says Beatrice Ware, a Ugandan HIV activist. She is HIV positive although she abstained until marriage and remained faithful to her husband.
‘Most women who are HIV positive were infected by their husbands,’ she said. ‘We are then labelled as either promiscuous or unfaithful.’
Stigma and discrimination are the other main barriers to controlling the disease. Until people feel that being tested will not lead to discrimination, there is little one can do to control the disease. Already it’s estimated that 90 per cent of those infected do not know their status.
Prevention methods will have to change. The traditional ABC (Abstain, Be faithful and use a Condom) does not take into account the vulnerable position of women in developing countries who cannot always control their sexual relations.
ABC stigmatises women, says Beatrice Ware, a Ugandan HIV activist. She is HIV positive although she abstained until marriage and remained faithful to her husband.
‘Most women who are HIV positive were infected by their husbands,’ she said. ‘We are then labelled as either promiscuous or unfaithful.’
Stigma and discrimination are the other main barriers to controlling the disease. Until people feel that being tested will not lead to discrimination, there is little one can do to control the disease. Already it’s estimated that 90 per cent of those infected do not know their status.
A role for the Church
Christian Aid’s partner, ANERELA+ (African Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV), says the churches have a key role in reducing stigma and discrimination.
‘As faith based organisations we have been involved in HIV prevention, but we have been doing more harm than good,’ said the Rev J.P. Heath of ANERELA+. ‘We have offered care, promises to look after orphans and help with funeral fees. We must stop helping people to die and start helping them to live. We must mobilise faith leaders to say that we can live with HIV.’
There is a recognition among the religious leaders that one of their biggest challenges comes from their own faith brothers – the evangelical churches which preach that HIV is a punishment from God and that the use of condoms is a sin.
Members of many of Christian Aid’s partner organisations attended the conference and were gratified to see how faith- based organisations are viewed as an important part of the solution.
Phumzile Zondi Mabizela from the KwaZulu Natal Council of Churches in South Africa said: ‘it is very positive for us who work on the ground to see how our experience are now being valued.’
‘As faith based organisations we have been involved in HIV prevention, but we have been doing more harm than good,’ said the Rev J.P. Heath of ANERELA+. ‘We have offered care, promises to look after orphans and help with funeral fees. We must stop helping people to die and start helping them to live. We must mobilise faith leaders to say that we can live with HIV.’
There is a recognition among the religious leaders that one of their biggest challenges comes from their own faith brothers – the evangelical churches which preach that HIV is a punishment from God and that the use of condoms is a sin.
Members of many of Christian Aid’s partner organisations attended the conference and were gratified to see how faith- based organisations are viewed as an important part of the solution.
Phumzile Zondi Mabizela from the KwaZulu Natal Council of Churches in South Africa said: ‘it is very positive for us who work on the ground to see how our experience are now being valued.’
Science still playing a part
The conference is also a forum for new scientific research. A recent study of a controlled trial of circumcised men in South Africa shows a 60 – 75 per cent reduced risk of contracting HIV. Using this data UNAIDS estimates that circumcision could avert two million new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa.
Chanda Fikansa, the director of Christian Aid partner, the Catholic Diocese of Ndola in Zambia says organisations such as his can use the influence of priests and nuns to encourage men to be circumcised.
‘I think it can be accepted by the church as it has been part of the Christianity from the beginning and it is supported by the Bible.’
But he warns: ‘being circumcised does not protect you from getting sexually transmitted diseases. And once infected, you can easily get HIV. We need to get it right from the beginning; circumcision must be supported with other behavioural change messages. Otherwise, we may preach the wrong message which will make people believe that, with circumcision, they cannot be infected by HIV.’
Chanda Fikansa, the director of Christian Aid partner, the Catholic Diocese of Ndola in Zambia says organisations such as his can use the influence of priests and nuns to encourage men to be circumcised.
‘I think it can be accepted by the church as it has been part of the Christianity from the beginning and it is supported by the Bible.’
But he warns: ‘being circumcised does not protect you from getting sexually transmitted diseases. And once infected, you can easily get HIV. We need to get it right from the beginning; circumcision must be supported with other behavioural change messages. Otherwise, we may preach the wrong message which will make people believe that, with circumcision, they cannot be infected by HIV.’
The closing speech
The conference wrapped up with a rousing speech by Stephen Lewis. To repeated applause he denounced those who apply ideology to aid and the South African government for adopting ‘theories more worthy of the lunatic fringe than of a concerned and compassionate state’.
He urged the delegates not to let governments evade their G8 commitment of the extra $25 billion for Africa by 2010. HIV is going to be with us for decades and this exceptional disease demands exceptional responses.
He urged the delegates not to let governments evade their G8 commitment of the extra $25 billion for Africa by 2010. HIV is going to be with us for decades and this exceptional disease demands exceptional responses.
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