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Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 19:11:25 EST
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Subject: [AfricaMatters] US Surgeon General calls for global efforts on AIDS
November 6, 2000
US Surgeon General calls for global efforts on AIDS
Nashville, US (Pana) - US Surgeon General David Satcher has called for a
collective global effort to address the HIV/AIDS problem, which he said is
probably the worst health epidemic the world has ever known.
In an address at an international AIDS conference which ended in Nashville,
US, over the weekend, he cited chilling data about the ravages being
inflicted by HIV/AIDS on poor populations, particularly in Africa.
Out of the 35 million people now living with the virus world-wide, the chief
of the US medical system said more than 20 million are in Africa. The AIDS
virus has so far infected 52 million people globally, 20 million having died
already and death from AIDS has produced more than 11 million orphans in
Africa alone.
Even though most of those affected are in poor developing countries, Satcher
said the world has an obligation to get involved in efforts to deal with the
problem.
In this global context, he said the US has also benefited from Africa on the
AIDS problem. For instance, Satcher pointed out that it was in Tanzania that
a test showed that aggressive treatment could reduce the risk of transmission
of the virus, while the strategy for a public campaign against the disease in
Uganda is now applied in the US.
Of the good things in the offing, he said the US administration has asked
pharmaceutical companies to do everything to get AIDS drugs down to
affordable prices in Africa.
The US has also been able to pass a bill that will remove ethnic-based
disparities in access to health care and increase funding for the rebuilding
of health institutions. Satcher also expressed hope that the AIDS Marshall
plan for Africa to emerge from the conference would get a good push in the US
with the involvement of a former US congressman, Ronald Dellums.
He urged participants at the conference to work with Dellums, who is
currently the chair of US President Bill Clinton's advisory council on
HIV/AIDS as well as president of Healthcare International Management Company.
Dellums underscored the threat posed by increasing spread of AIDS in
developing countries, warning that it was a security threat to the US as well.
The former Congressman from California urged the US to take a leadership role
in providing assistance to developing countries affected by the epidemic.
According to him, by focusing on the tragedy happening in Africa, the US will
be able to also save itself.
Among those attending the conference were African officials, including
Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Source: MISAnet/Panafrican News Agency
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