Views
A Response to the Vermont Health Department
A View of the World at Bangkok
A View of the World
at Bangkok
by Augustus Nasmith, Jr.
The
world united in the struggle to confront HIV/AIDS converged on Bangkok
for the XV International AIDS Conference, July 11-16. Record registration
of 19,843 "delegates," underscored the global condition of HIV/AIDS
and its spread. "Delegate" designation harkens back to the founding
of the United Nations upon the devastation of World War II, when the U.S.
government was truly inspired in its leadership. I was proud to be a delegate
among my international fellows in Bangkok. I was not proud of the U.S.
government.
American medical practitioners and
scientific researchers, activists, loved ones – all those affected
by and caring about HIV/AIDS – have been cherished team members
and leaders in the ranks of those fighting the incredible human plague,
a devastation beyond the 70 million thus far infected, the 30 million
dead. We 70 million impact the struggles to live of so many hundreds of
millions more.
My first international conference
as a person living with HIV/AIDS was in 1992 in Amsterdam, when Harvard
University had to host it from the Netherlands, since the first Bush government
would not allow infected participants to enter the U.S. At least then
our key government researchers, among the 3,000 Americans attending the
conference, were in full presence. (Then-candidate Bill Clinton's party
included a platform plank that recognized AIDS with needed frankness and
commitment.)
Before the 2004 Bangkok conference,
the current Bush Administration limited participation of medical researchers
from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Center for Disease
Control (CDC) to 50 (236 attended the XIV conference two years ago in
Barcelona). The lame excuse was that the travel money would be better
spent on research. Most of us know that the limitation was because the
world fighting HIV/AIDS has understanding and vision beyond the Bush ideologues.
Conference organizers regarded the restrictions as "shameful"
and expressed how much the Americans forbidden participation by their
own government would be missed by their international colleagues.
At the opening ceremony, Thai and
international activists staged a well-organized, principled, and peaceful
march to the entrance of the mammoth "Impact" conference center.
Articulate, energetic regardless of their health or limited means, they
called for equity in the global struggle, realization of the plight of
marginalized groups, and that in all societies HIV/AIDS is the sparrow
in the mineshaft. Special attention focused on helping Thai drug users
who had experienced murderous police and misdirected public health policies.
The President of the International AIDS Society, Director of the UNAIDS
program, and Thai hosts came to receive letters from the protesters and
to interact with those assembled.
In this atmosphere of democratic discourse,
it was announced that Randall Tobias, President Bush's Global AIDS Coordinator,
had been invited, but refused to come. Like the first President Bush,
who would not visit the AIDS Quilt spread on Mall in 1991, Tobias declined
the opportunity to relate, choosing instead to distance himself from the
humanity of the epidemic. Tommy Thompson, U.S. Secretary of Health and
Human Services, Chairman of the Board of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Malaria (The Global Fund) was no where to be seen in Bangkok.
Everyone from UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela and grassroots activists from developing and
developed world find the Global Fund the entity most worthy and needing
of additional support. In his conference speech, Tobias intoned that the
Global Fund has not proven itself, and therefore didn't yet merit the
additional funds from the U.S. that so many have urged. (Howard Dean pledged
a significant increase in his campaign, and John Kerry does so in his.)
One wonders while still living with the destruction of going it alone
in Iraq outside the UN, that we plow new ground to go it alone in the
midst of global mass destruction that is hidden only to those who close
their eyes.
The past two years and this
conference itself brought no astounding medical breakthroughs in HIV/AIDS.
However, the body of knowledge built up over the years, including the
linkage of care to prevention, form bases to halt the progress of AIDS.
Fulsome attention to funding, education, drug supply, training of health
care workers – if properly implemented – will reduce infections
and improve quality of life for those infected, their families and societies.
We must keep pressure on finding creative means to lower prices and ensure
accessibility for all who need life-prolonging drugs. We must provide
economic empowerment, legal protections, and rational and compassionate
religious, cultural and social involvement. The health of all –
even the humanity of all – is impossible without removing stigma,
discrimination, and abuse.
Thai participants and 2,000 volunteers
at the conference, including those materially poor or "marginalized"
in social status, brought smiles and humor in their welcomes to us and
to each other. That spirit was mirrored by a small group of American Peace
Corps volunteers who had come from various villages in Thailand. These
young Americans symbolize our potential to do good when the United States
will again be led by a government that is not afraid of "the other"
but knows, like those of us in the world of HIV/AIDS, that we are truly
part of the human family. Our separation, our fear, the arrogance and
selfishness that accompany them, are harmful to us all – including
the consequences to our social fabric and the blocks to realization of
our ideals and spiritual
potential.
Augustus "Gus" Nasmith, Jr. attended the XV International
AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand (July 11 - 16, 2004) participating
for AIDS, Medicine & Miracles; the Vermont People with AIDS Coalition;
Vermont CARES. These comments are his own and speak for no organization.