AFRO-NETS> Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Wed, 5 Sep 2001

[Cecilia Snyder <csnyder@ccmc.org>]

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Wed, 5 Sep 2001
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* Private Firms Ideally Situated to Fight HIV/AIDS in Africa
* U2's Bono, Other Pop Artists to Rerecord Marvin Gaye Classic to
  Raise Funds for Africa AIDS Fight
* International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Ugandan Government Agree to
  Speed Development of Three Potential Vaccines
* U.S. Must Contribute More to Global AIDS Effort, Editorial Says


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Private Firms Ideally Situated to Fight HIV/AIDS in Africa

Private corporations "possess some of the best transportation and 
distribution systems" in Africa and often number among the largest 
employers on the continent, making them perfect candidates to dis-
seminate AIDS information and health supplies to the African popula-
tion, the Boston Globe reports. Several large corporations, including 
Coca-Cola, Shell Oil and Puma, have volunteered to participate in ef-
forts such as AIDS education campaigns and marketing for prenatal 
care programs in Africa. But a report to be released next week by the 
Corporate Council on Africa, which represents the largest U.S. compa-
nies operating in Africa, states that "much greater participation" 
from businesses is needed to stem the epidemic. The report, which 
outlines "best business practices" for fighting HIV/AIDS, suggests 
that companies first aim to provide AIDS education and support for 
their own employees, Joe Sills, co-chair of the task force appointed 
to study the issue, said. "A corporation is going to come out far 
better by dealing initially with AIDS in its work force and trying to 
provide information to its families, than simply saying, 'This is go-
ing to cost a lot of money up front,'" Sills said. He added that the 
task force "strongly recommends voluntary and confidential" HIV test-
ing for African employees "as long as it is permitted in the host 
country." Sills said that the next step for companies is to assist 
with anti-AIDS messages by "follow[ing] socially responsible prac-
tices" and "pay[ing] attention to AIDS" in the work force. Robert 
Hecht, who has headed a UNAIDS team tasked with seeking out "corpo-
rate commitments" to anti-AIDS efforts, added that corporations 
should use their transportation and distribution networks to help 
dispense items such as testing kits and condoms. "You go to very re-
mote parts of countries, the mail might not make it, electricity may 
not be there, medicines may not be in the health centers, but Coke 
makes sure that its drinks are in the small shops," he said.

Time for a Change

AIDS activists and some business leaders say that such efforts by 
corporations are "long overdue" and that companies should be doing 
more to combat Africa's AIDS epidemic. Richard Holbrooke, president 
of the not-for-profit Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS, said that 
he hopes to expand his organization's participation from 20 to 200 
businesses, each of which would pay $25,000 to join. "So far in the 
fight against AIDS, corporations have done a tiny fraction, signifi-
cantly less than 10%, of what they ought to be doing, or what they 
could do. I understand that businesses need to do things in their own 
interests, so we have to show businesses that it is in their own in-
terests to work on this problem," Holbrooke said. He added that many 
companies in Africa are hiring extra workers to replace those ex-
pected to die of AIDS-related illnesses. But Asia Russell of the AIDS 
group the Health GAP Coalition "questioned" companies' motives in 
launching anti-AIDS campaigns. "It's almost like some are making 
statements to calm investors above all else. They talk about doing 
the right things for the wrong reasons. I think we need to force this 
question of what corporations should be doing in order to make use of 
their incredible wealth to serve the interests of not just their own 
employees, but all the people of Africa," she said (Donnelly, Boston 
Globe, 9/4).


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U2's Bono, Other Pop Artists to Rerecord Marvin Gaye Classic to Raise 
Funds for Africa AIDS Fight

More than 20 popular recording artists and bands will gather today in 
New York City to rerecord Marvin Gaye's 1971 single "What's Going On" 
in an effort to raise funds for AIDS treatment and prevention in Af-
rica, as well as to lobby Congress for a $1 billion appropriation 
this year to the Global AIDS and Health Fund, the Boston Globe re-
ports. U2 lead singer Bono is spearheading the project, which in-
cludes pop artists Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Destiny's Child, 
'N Sync, No Doubt and Christina Aguilera. The single will be released 
by World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, with proceeds going to build health 
clinics in the areas of Africa hardest-hit by the disease. A postcard 
will likely be included with each copy of the single, allowing record 
buyers to lobby congressional members in support of the AIDS fund. 
Further plans for the record will be announced at a press conference 
today. Global AIDS Alliance Cofounder Paul Zeitz, who is collaborat-
ing the grass-roots congressional campaign, said, "Everyone says it's 
a long shot, but then again everyone in the Bush administration keeps 
saying, 'We're still working on our policy.' The bottom line is what 
we do. If we get the grass-roots mobilization going, we can make a 
serious push for the money." He said the lyrics of Gaye's hit "fi[t] 
the urgency of the situation in the developing world," where an esti-
mated three million people died last year of AIDS-related complica-
tions. So far, governments, organizations and individuals have 
pledged about $1.3 billion to the AIDS fund created by U.N. Secre-
tary-General Kofi Annan in April -- including a $200 million pledge 
from President Bush -- but the amount is still significantly short of 
the $7 billion to $10 billion Annan has estimated the fund needs 
(Donnelly, Boston Globe, 9/5).


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International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Ugandan Government Agree to 
Speed Development of Three Potential Vaccines

The Ugandan government and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative 
agreed Thursday to "accelerate" the development of three potential 
AIDS vaccines, Reuters Health reports. Under the agreement, IAVI will 
work with the Uganda Virus Research Institute to evaluate new AIDS 
vaccines, help Ugandan scientists "play an active part in vaccine re-
search and development" and help "strengthen" Uganda's clinical trial 
infrastructure to prepare for Phase II/III trials for new vaccines. 
Two of the vaccines are currently undergoing testing, while the 
third, an oral vaccine, is planned for Phase I clinical trials in the 
United States and Uganda. All three vaccines target HIV subtype A, 
the most common HIV strain in East Africa. The Uganda Virus Research 
Institute is creating a special AIDS Vaccine Trial Unit to research 
and monitor these and other vaccine efforts (Reuters Health, 8/31). 


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U.S. Must Contribute More to Global AIDS Effort, Editorial Says

"[G]lobal AIDS is not an over-the-horizon problem that Americans can 
safely ignore," a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial says. "The 
U.S. National Intelligence Council has described infectious diseases 
such as AIDS as a risk to America's security since they threaten the 
economic health and political stability of countries where Americans 
live and where U.S. companies operate. That's why Congress and the 
administration should look AIDS in the eye and recognize the danger 
it poses," the editorial adds. In August, President Bush pledged $200 
million toward the Global AIDS and Health Fund created by U.N. Secre-
tary-General Kofi Annan, despite some hopes that the United States 
might contribute $1 billion toward the $7 billion to $10 billion 
needed for the fund. "It's true that $1 billion is a huge amount of 
money, but the U.S. already spends 20 times that amount every year 
preventing AIDS and treating the 800,000 Americans who are living 
with HIV," the editorial says. While treating AIDS "is not only 
costly, but also complex and uncertain," the "threat posed by AIDS 
... is serious, and it requires a serious -- and generous -- re-
sponse," the editorial concludes (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9/1).


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The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, 
a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National 
Journal Group Inc. c 2001 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser 
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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