December 5, 2005

100% EFFECTIVE:

THE EU VERSUS THE US ON AIDS (Der Spiegel, 12/05/05)

SPIEGEL ONLINE spoke with Robin Gorna, head of the UK's Global AIDS Policy Team, about how realistic abstinence is, whether the US is helping or hurting, and how close we are to an AIDS cure. [...]

SPIEGEL ONLINE: The statement released by the EU to mark World AIDS Day seems to criticize the US policy of promoting abstinence as a way of combating HIV and AIDS. Is abstinence a real weapon in that fight? Is it realistic to expect people to abstain from sex?

Robin Gorna: Our Secretary of State (editor's note: International Development Secretary Hilary Benn) has said very clearly that abstinence is fine for some people, but not everyone can abstain, and no-one should die because of sex.


And they won't if they behave morally.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 5, 2005 1:11 PM
Comments

...and no-one should die because of sex.

Lesson #1: Don't have sex with a horse.

Posted by: AllenS at December 5, 2005 1:25 PM

...whether the US is helping or hurting...

You have to be pretty ignorant to write that about global AIDS management.

If they're unhappy with our attitude, then they can send back the billions, and everyone will be happy - except for the quarter of Africa's population that'll die over the next twenty years.

BTW, in Russia, the BEST CASE scenario is that 250,000 Russians will be dying annually of AIDS in ten years - worst case is double that.

Russia faces one of the world's fastest-growing rates of infection - the number of HIV cases mushroomed in five years to levels the US took two decades to reach. The World Bank projects that by 2020, the number of HIV cases in Russia could range anywhere between 5.4 million and 14.5 million.

Also:

According to official statistics, at the end of last year Russia had around 340,000 registered people living with HIV. But it is widely acknowledged that the figure could be at least four times higher. [Emphasis added] [...]
Russia now has the fastest-growing Aids epidemic in Europe - every day 100 new HIV positive infections are registered.
The problem is no longer limited to injecting drug users. [...]
Last year, roughly 40% of all new registered cases of HIV were women, most of whom are of childbearing age.

Posted by: Michael Herdegen [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 5, 2005 2:11 PM

I want my avarice and my contentment. I want my gluttony and my good health. I want my sloth and rewards for accomplishment. And I want the principle of non contradiction to vanish. Get on it.

Posted by: Luciferous at December 5, 2005 2:29 PM

Nice, Luciferous.

Also, "not everyone can abstain"? Huh?

Posted by: Tom at December 8, 2005 5:38 PM
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