Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report Summarizes Editorials on Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic

Several newspapers have published editorials and opinion pieces focusing on HIV/AIDS-related issues in response to the 2004 UNAIDS Report of the Global AIDS Epidemic released by UNAIDS on Tuesday and to mark the XV International AIDS Conference, which began on Sunday in Bangkok, Thailand, and runs through July 16. Summaries of some of the editorials and opinion pieces appear below:

• Austin American- Statesman: Culture contributes "heavily" to the spread of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, and although funding is an important aspect of the fight against the epidemic, it is "equally important to curb its spread by changing traditions," an American-Statesman editorial says. The region's "male-dominated sexuality," including wife-sharing, polygamy, female circumcision and sexual violence toward women, should be addressed in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, the editorial concludes (Austin American-Statesman, 7/9).
  
  
• Bangkok Post: By treating drug use criminally instead of medically, Thailand is driving injection drug users "deeper underground," undermining HIV/AIDS outreach initiatives and increasing the prison population -- in which many prisoners engage in high-risk behaviors -- and ultimately creating a "climate of fear," a Post editorial says (Bangkok Post, 7/10).
  
  
• Bangkok Post: For the first time, this year's International AIDS Conference will involve political leaders as well as scientists and community leaders, a Post editorial says, adding that government leaders -- especially those of the host country Thailand -- must show they "and other parties at the AIDS meeting can translate words of understanding into serious action" (Bangkok Post, 7/9).
  
  
• Charleston Post and Courier: Although preventing the spread of HIV is a "very costly undertaking," it is possible, a Post and Courier editorial says. The global AIDS fight "requires greatly stepped up programs" for prevention and education to "overcome" the stigma and discrimination that previously have hindered initiatives, the editorial concludes (Charleston Post and Courier, 7/9).
  
  
• Dallas Morning News: HIV/AIDS "threatens civilizations" and "must be stopped" through programs that provide education, prevention methods and antiretroviral treatment, a Morning News editorial says. The United States and the rest of the world must "trumpet that message and bolster it with money and swift action" because "denial, complacency and failure to act are tantamount to death," the editorial concludes (Dallas Morning News, 7/9).
  
  
• South Florida Sun- Sentinel: The United States and other donors mush ensure that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has sufficient resources to work effectively in "stemming the tide" of the global AIDS epidemic, a Sun-Sentinel editorial says (South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 7/11).
  
  
• Forth Worth Star-Telegram: Abstinence and committed partnerships are "only ... one answer" to addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic, a Star-Telegram editorial says. "AIDS can be beaten" by educating people to change risky behaviors, but that type of information has to be effectively delivered, the editorial concludes (Forth Worth Star-Telegram, 7/9).
  
  
• Honolulu Advertiser: HIV/AIDS has become a security risk to the United States because when it is "rampant" it targets "young men and women of child-bearing age with their working lives ahead of them" -- the people who "make a society succeed," an Advertiser editorial says. President Bush should reduce federal funding for an "ineffective" missile defense system and increase the country's commitment to global HIV/AIDS efforts, the editorial concludes (Honolulu Advertiser, 7/8).
  
  
• Kansas City Star: The Bush administration has "thrown ... obstacles in the way of effective treatment" for people living with HIV/AIDS throughout the world, including its "stubborn insistence" on prevention messages focusing on abstinence, a Star editorial says, concluding that increasing funding and adopting "more realistic" approaches to the epidemic could help reduce the number of new cases and "ease some of the suffering" (Kansas City Star, 7/11).
  
  
• Long Island Newsday: Although the administration's pledge to combat HIV/AIDS is "admirable," the government's "eagerness to please large drug firms and its tilt toward the religious right tarnish an otherwise exemplary effort," a Newsday editorial says (Long Island Newsday, 7/11).
  
  
• Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Although the global HIV/AIDS crisis is "bleak, it is "not hopeless," a Journal-Sentinel editorial says. Because of the "gravity" of the epidemic, drug companies should reduce the cost of antiretrovirals; developing countries should focus on HIV/AIDS by training and retaining health care professionals; and global prevention efforts should be provided with increased funding, the editorial concludes (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 7/9).
  
  
• Portland Press Herald: Many people in the United States incorrectly assume that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is under control, a Press-Herald editorial says. However, the HIV epidemic continues to "rage" in Africa and has made "deep inroads" in Eastern Europe and Asia, the editorial says, concluding that the world must be made aware that treatment and prevention measures "save lives and money when it comes to AIDS" (Portland Press Herald, 7/9).
  
  
• San Francisco Chronicle: HIV/AIDS is "one of the most dangerous diseases ever encountered," and the barriers to effective prevention and treatment -- including cultural traditions, insufficient funding for global programs, condom shortages and trade and patent laws that prohibit developing countries from producing generic drugs -- must be addressed, a Chronicle editorial says (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/11).

  Opinion Pieces
  

  • Thomas Coates, Los Angeles Times: Although the theme of the International AIDS Conference is "Access for All," the world's response to HIV/AIDS "continues to be woefully inadequate," Coates, professor of infectious diseases at University of California-Los Angeles's David Geffen School of Medicine and executive committee member of UCLA's AIDS Institute, writes in a Times opinion piece. Inadequate access to care, insufficient funding for global initiatives, "useless" prevention standards and the unwillingness of leaders in the developing world to address HIV/AIDS have contributed to rising prevalence rates and preventable deaths, Coates concludes (Los Angeles Times, 7/11).
    
    
  • Adrienne Germain, New York Times: The "most basic step forward" in the fight against HIV/AIDS has been "repeatedly overlooked and underfinanced," Germain, president of the International Women's Health Coalition, writes in a Times letter to editor. Germain calls for improved reproductive health services and education for all women and girls(New York Times, 7/11).
    
    
  • Mitchell Koss, Los Angeles Times: Although public health officials in China are promoting discussion about HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, there remains a "great deal of ignorance, fear and stigma associated with HIV to overcome," Koss, a Los Angeles-based television news and documentary producer, writes in a Times guest opinion piece (Los Angeles Times, 7/11).
    
    
  • Lee Reichman, New York Times: The "shocking" increase in the number of HIV/AIDS cases detailed in Asia in the UNAIDS 2004 Report of the Global AIDS Epidemic is "complicat[ed]" by the "scary ... factor" of Asia's tuberculosis rate, which is the world's highest, Reichman, executive director of the New Jersey Medical School National Tuberculosis Center, writes in a Times letter to the editor. He concludes that the rising number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Asian countries with "very high rates of TB virtually ensures an explosion of active, transmissable TB" (New York Times, 7/11).