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Politics, Lack of Funding are Main Barriers to Global HIV/AIDS Prevention -- June 27, 1998

GENEVA--Lack of political will and financial support continue to jeopardize global efforts to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS, the head of an international HIV/AIDS prevention project told participants in a satellite meeting of the XIIth International AIDS Conference.

"Throughout the world, millions of people are dying of a preventable disease because of apathy, denial and misguided public policy," said Dr. Peter Lamptey, director of the IMPACT (Implementing AIDS Care and Prevention) Project. "Political and business leaders must have the courage and the foresight to provide adequate funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and to support enlightened policies."

Speaking during the closing session of the 2nd International HIV Prevention Symposium June 28, Dr. Lamptey cited several examples of policies that hamper global prevention efforts, including prohibitions against public funding of needle exchange programs and restrictions on sex education for youth.

Policymakers have rejected proven prevention methods and failed to fund others at the levels needed to have an impact on the pandemic, Dr. Lamptey charged. Funding for prevention and care has not kept pace with the epidemic, and in some cases it has actually declined as the number of people affected by HIV/AIDS has increased.

Funding for research has also suffered. "Despite President Clinton's recent call for a vaccine within ten years," Dr. Lamptey said, "there have been no new pharmaceutical companies or biotechnology firms in vaccine development, and several existing HIV vaccine programs have been scaled back or canceled."

Noting that a safe and effective vaccine is at least five to ten years away and that it may not be affordable or completely effective in developing countries, where most HIV infections occur, Dr. Lamptey stressed the importance of the HIV/AIDS prevention efforts discussed at the symposium. This satellite meeting brought together 400 HIV prevention experts and people living with HIV/AIDS to discuss effective interventions, successful strategies for addressing social and political barriers to prevention, and current research.

After summarizing the key findings of the participants, Dr. Lamptey concluded with a call for greater public and private support for HIV/AIDS prevention, care and research. "We need a safe, effective vaccine and we need prevention methods that women can control, but most of all we need sufficient resources and supportive policies," he said.

IMPACT is sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Family Health International, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to improving the health of women and children and to preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The project's partners include the Institute for Tropical Medicine, Management Sciences for Health, Population Services International, The Program for Appropriate Technology in Health and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.