The New York Times today ran a powerful set of stories on the consequences of stagnant funding for global AIDS programs. The main article documents a sharp turnabout in the war on AIDS, as new patients in Uganda are being denied access to treatment because of inadequate funding.
“Uganda is the first country where major clinics routinely turn people away, but it will not be the last,” the Times reports. “In Kenya next door, grants to keep 200,000 on drugs will expire soon. An American-run program in Mozambique has been told to stop opening clinics. There have been drug shortages in Nigeria and Swaziland. Tanzania and Botswana are trimming treatment slots, according to a report by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders.”
US Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby tells the Times: “I’m worried we’ll be in a ‘Kampala situation’ in other countries soon.”
Here are links to this comprehensive look at the crisis in global AIDS:
At Front Lines, AIDS War Is Falling Apart http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/world/africa/10aids.html?ref=africa
As the Need Grows, the Money for AIDS Runs Far Short
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/world/africa/10aidsmoney.html
After Long Scientific Search, Still No Cure for AIDS
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/world/africa/10aidsscience.html?ref=africa
Cultural Attitudes and Rumors Are Lasting Obstacles to Safe Sex
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/world/africa/10aidscondom.html?ref=africa
[…] alarms sound about a weakening international commitment to global AIDS, scientists will gather in Washington, DC to report on potentially transformative new tools in the […]