1... The media completely missed the World AIDS Day clanger that former Federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge (now Head of the government's revamped AIDS Council- ANCARD) dropped in his World AIDS Day article "No longer a killer, but stay alert" (The Australian" 1/12).
He exhorted the nation to stay alert, but he'd already fallen asleep at the wheel.
He asserted"...Australia has about 3,000 people living with HIV/AIDS...."
The reality is that that Australia has about 14,000( probably closer to 16,000) people living with HIV/AIDS, and these UNAIDS figures(up to the end of 2003) reveal that while a "Low estimate" would be 6,800, the "High estimate" would be 22,000.
Brian Haill,
President,
The Australian AIDS Fund Incorporated,
Melbourne, Australia.
2... For Dr Michael Wooldridge to assert on World AIDS Day that we are winning the war on AIDS beggars belief.
Worldwide there were 5 million new HIV infections in 2003, the largest annual increase on record.HIV prevention efforts are clearly anaemic: According to UNAIDS, few than 1 in 5 people has access to effective programs.
At home, Dr Wooldridge points out that Australia acted very early and effectively to quell the pandemic. However, complacency has set in, and Victoria has experienced a marked upsurge in new HIV infections: 225 last year compared with 139 in 1999.
With Dr Wooldridge rightly predicting that Asia will likely be the epicentre of the AIDS pandemic by 2010, Australia must invest richly in HIV prevention for the future wellbeing of our neighbours as well as ourselves.
Dr Daniel Stefanski,
Collingwood, Victoria.
Michael Wooldridge: No longer a killer, but stay alert "The Australian" - World AIDS Day, December 1, 2004
"Something dramatic happened during my first year as federal health minister in 1996 - HIV infection ceased being a death sentence. Just before I took up the portfolio, the Australian Government approved a range of antiretroviral medications that, for the first time, kept the disease in a manageable state without progressing to the fatal manifestation of AIDS.
Of course, this was no cure. But for HIV-positive Australians, it meant disease management rather than imminent death. Before this, you practically had to win the lottery to survive - a combination of luck and an immune response that scientists are only now beginning to fathom.
On World AIDS Day, I bear this in mind when I think of our response to HIV-AIDS at home and abroad. For, although prevention of HIV-AIDS is still the centrepiece of any strategy to combat the disease, the blue sky in this area is the continued work to discover a vaccine or a cure. In 2004, Australia has about 3000 people living with HIV-AIDS. Our numbers, largely contained by pragmatic prevention policies, mean we have one of the lowest rates among developed nations. But, globally, 38 million people are infected; two-thirds of them live in sub-Saharan Africa.
Asia, a source of growing numbers of tourists and immigrants for us, is a key battleground. China's government has warned HIV-AIDS has spread to every level of society; the UN predicts up to 10 million Chinese might become HIV-infected within six years.
Contributions to fighting HIV-AIDS have risen enormously in the past two years and are likely to be more than $5billion in 2004. Australia recently doubled to $600 million (during the next six years) the amount of money it gives to fight the global pandemic.
Australia has seen impressive gains in the fight against HIV-AIDS through rapid response. Our response when the HIV epidemic took hold in the early 1980s meant we didn't wait to educate and inform the population about the risks and prevention, or delay pragmatic public health responses, such as the needle-exchange program. Similarly, Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee has allowed a quick response to the introduction of new antiretrovirals and combination therapy, which has saved thousands of lives.
The availability of treatments has transformed the debate about HIV-AIDS. In July, I attended the Biannual Global AIDS Conference in Bangkok. This was different from previous conferences because more time was devoted to the access and availability of treatments. What was being made available in Australia nine years ago is being demanded across the world by people affected by HIV-AIDS.
Prevention is still part of our battle, but it is within the context of access to existing treatments and the availability of new ones. A new class of medicines, known as fusion inhibitors, are now available. These provide an option for the treatment of people with resistant strains of HIV-AIDS. This is reason for further hope. In the end, though, the ultimate prize will be the discovery of an effective vaccine.
Australia is at the forefront of vaccine development. Our scientists are highly innovative and we have a long history of being open to new options and ideas. In 1987, Labor's Health Minister * Neal Blewett described HIV-AIDS as the greatest health challenge facing Australia since Federation.
Our success in preventing much transmission and the widespread availability of treatments make it an even greater challenge not to become complacent.
We need to maintain preventative efforts. And we need to ensure our outstanding research is commercialised, to provide future wealth as well as innovative ways of tackling HIV-AIDS. The reality is, without a vaccine, the disease will continue to spread and most new victims are likely to be living in Asia.
On World AIDS Day we remember how far we have come -and we have reached the end of the beginning. But we still have much further to travel."
| * Website Manager's note: Neal Blewett also wrote to The Australian AIDS Fund in those early days, applauding our work with HIV positive people but also declaring he had no funds to help.Some 10 years were to pass before we received a single cent of government money while millions flowed to AIDS Councils, speaking volumes for political clout ahead of realistic allocation. |
|
|
