This is a piece I wrote this morning in the span of about 25 minutes. It is not very eloquent or well thought out, but more just digesting my feelings on apathy and AIDS.
My Greatest Fear AIDS Fatigue and Pondering the Repercussions
I was sitting in a café with a respected HIV/AIDS specialist, discussing the potential for a new mobile medical project in Rwanda. I clearly remember her initial reaction to the idea: “Well first, you can forget AIDS. There is too much money in AIDS. Why not do something in orthopedics?”
This is not an article based upon scientific evidence or thoroughly researched facts. It is an article based entirely upon the gut feeling I have each time I visit an association of PLWHA here in Rwanda. It is an article based upon my greatest fears for the future of HIV/AIDS.
As a country of focus for USAID, PEPFAR, the World Bank and Global Fund, there is abundant money in HIV/AIDS for Rwanda. There are dozens of NGOs, present in all the provinces. There are billboards; there are radio broadcasts. Condoms are distributed. I am told, people know how to prevent HIV/AIDS.
After four short months working at the national level, I feel ready to make the statement that is politically incorrect. That frightens us all, and makes us question the fundamental basis of our programming. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is rising. It is rising almost everywhere. Scarier still is the apathy surrounding this, and the fact that as an international community, we don’t really know what to do.
I do not believe that HIV/AIDS is unsolvable. In fact, I believe that HIV/AIDS is lucky enough to have some of the greatest minds working towards its solution. However, approximately 15 years into the pandemic, there is fatigue, and it seems to be growing. When the results on the ground seem limited, where do we go from there? When donors begin to move away from the AIDS funding trend, can we still move forward?
As explained to me by a friend from a large multilateral organization: “In general, we stay away from funding AIDS projects. Of course, in an absolute sense, there is not enough money in AIDS. But in a relative sense, there is far too much money. We will let the other donors take care of it.”
My greatest fear: I am concerned at the apathy of international donors and specialist who are tired of thinking about HIV/AIDS, tired after almost three decades of work.
My drive and my ambition: I want to know how we can keep the motivation and effort in HIV/AIDS. The future is nerve wracking – the pandemic bursting at the seams in so many places, with nothing to stand in its way. At this point in time, we cannot lose interest. We must continue to invest. Otherwise it will mean the lives of millions.
If that is a price we are willing to pay, so be it. But let us not pay this price out of apathy or exhaustion.
AIDS Fatigue and Pondering the Repercussions
I was sitting in a café with a respected HIV/AIDS specialist, discussing the potential for a new mobile medical project in Rwanda. I clearly remember her initial reaction to the idea: “Well first, you can forget AIDS. There is too much money in AIDS. Why not do something in orthopedics?”
This is not an article based upon scientific evidence or thoroughly researched facts. It is an article based entirely upon the gut feeling I have each time I visit an association of PLWHA here in Rwanda. It is an article based upon my greatest fears for the future of HIV/AIDS.
As a country of focus for USAID, PEPFAR, the World Bank and Global Fund, there is abundant money in HIV/AIDS for Rwanda. There are dozens of NGOs, present in all the provinces. There are billboards; there are radio broadcasts. Condoms are distributed. I am told, people know how to prevent HIV/AIDS.
After four short months working at the national level, I feel ready to make the statement that is politically incorrect. That frightens us all, and makes us question the fundamental basis of our programming. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is rising. It is rising almost everywhere. Scarier still is the apathy surrounding this, and the fact that as an international community, we don’t really know what to do.
I do not believe that HIV/AIDS is unsolvable. In fact, I believe that HIV/AIDS is lucky enough to have some of the greatest minds working towards its solution. However, approximately 15 years into the pandemic, there is fatigue, and it seems to be growing. When the results on the ground seem limited, where do we go from there? When donors begin to move away from the AIDS funding trend, can we still move forward?
As explained to me by a friend from a large multilateral organization: “In general, we stay away from funding AIDS projects. Of course, in an absolute sense, there is not enough money in AIDS. But in a relative sense, there is far too much money. We will let the other donors take care of it.”
My greatest fear: I am concerned at the apathy of international donors and specialist who are tired of thinking about HIV/AIDS, tired after almost three decades of work.
My drive and my ambition: I want to know how we can keep the motivation and effort in HIV/AIDS. The future is nerve wracking – the pandemic bursting at the seams in so many places, with nothing to stand in its way. At this point in time, we cannot lose interest. We must continue to invest. Otherwise it will mean the lives of millions.
If that is a price we are willing to pay, so be it. But let us not pay this price out of apathy or exhaustion.