Article: U.S. Officials Preview U.N. Special Meeting on HIV/AIDS

22 June 2001

Article: U.S. Officials Preview U.N. Special Meeting on HIV/AIDS

Speak at Foreign Press Center briefing

By Kathryn Ellis
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS should not be viewed as two separate and competing efforts but rather two essential components in the process of combating the AIDS epidemic, according to a panel of U.S. health officials.

Dr. Victor Barnes, Deputy Director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention in the National Center of HIV, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD), and Tuberculosis (TB) Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told a June 19 briefing at the State Department's Center for Foreign Journalists that U.S. policy encompasses the idea that "care and prevention are interlinked." A successful plan has to consider both as equally important factors in the fight against HIV/AIDS, they emphasized.

The CDC official was joined at the briefing by Dr. Jack Killen, Director of AIDS at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Paul De Lay, chief of the HIV/AIDS Division in the Global Bureau of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Barnes' colleagues at the briefing added that establishing a resolution on the controversial treatment versus prevention debate would be a prime topic for discussion at the upcoming special United Nations General Assembly (UNGASS) session on HIV/AIDS set for June 25-27.

They added that a declaration being drafted prior to the U.N. HIV/AIDS meeting by member states is one that will "combine the two sides of the debate."

At their briefing Dr. Barnes and his colleagues gave an overview of the declaration by outlining its four governing objectives, adding that these principles are what make this thirty-six-page declaration both strong and unique.

These objectives include conveying the message that AIDS is more than a health problem; that it has escalated into a global crisis. Secondly, the declaration aims at increasing political commitment and awareness. According to Barnes this requires "more than saying the word AIDS once a year in a speech at the national AIDS dinner." Thirdly, establishing the declaration as a global plan and not merely a political statement.

Finally, and according to Dr. Barnes, what makes this declaration particularly unique is a system of accountability that will assess the progress of the battle against AIDS at the regional, national and global level.

Returning to the need to combine both treatment and prevention in any successful anti-AIDS effort, Dr. Jack Killen said one reason for that strategy was "if you have treatment it provides a reason for people to know about the disease and to learn how it can be prevented."

The United States has been supporting treatment centers overseas since 1986. In Uganda, USAID was the first supporter of a treatment program, and it also has run AIDS education programs there instrumental in reducing the prevalence of HIV in 15-24 year olds in urban areas by 50 percent, according to USAID figures.

In 1997, USAID accelerated its prevention and treatment programs, Barnes pointed out -- adding that USAID now has 25 treatment programs in 15 countries that primarily focus on treatment of infections as well as providing social support programs.

USAID has also played a primary role in reducing sexually transmitted infections (STI's) in Africa. It is improving programs in Cote d`Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia. USAID support has also been instrumental in reducing the prevalence of STI's by 40 percent among vulnerable mineworkers over a nine-month period.

Currently, the U.S. Government is the world leader in responding to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. USAID is the primary vehicle through which the United States contributes to combating HIV/AIDS overseas. USAID has dedicated over 1,600 thousand million dollars to the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS since 1986.

In fiscal year 2001, USAID's HIV/AIDS budget was increased to $340 million, almost doubling the previous year's budget.