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United Nations draws flak Due to Lukewarm AIDS Prevention Measures

by Medindia Content Team on Jun 8 2006 6:27 PM

The International AIDS Society is grossly disappointed with the UN General Assembly declaration on HIV/AIDS, which has done precious little to facilitate all the earmarked prevention programs needed to battle the pandemic.

Executive Director Craig McClure of The International AIDS Society said 'The lack of clear targets I think in terms of scaling up the numbers of health workers we need in order to deliver prevention and treatment to the levels that we expect to, i.e. universal access by 2010. No targets were in the document. And in addition to that I think what was disappointing to us was that 25 years into this epidemic countries are still unable to name specifically the populations that are most at risk, like sex workers and injecting drug users, gay men and other men who have sex with men.'

In his estimate, politics has been the key impediment in furthering the cause of AIDS. Power play and politics, so much a part of the groups, organizations and individuals in charge of prevention programs, has contributed to the slackened pace of improvements.

Conservatives have always had difference of opinion with the so called preventive programs. In their opinion, there is often undue emphasis on condoms, rather than on the principles of fidelity and abstinence.


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