AFRO-NETS> AIDS in Uganda: is there such a thing as a national success story?

[Claudio Schuftan <aviva@netnam.vn>]

AIDS in Uganda: is there such a thing as a national success story?
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Ugandan 'Success Story' Needs Further Investigation, Economist Says

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=13144

The HIV/AIDS "miracle" in Uganda was not "faked," but it was "possi-
bly exaggerated" and should be subjected to further investigation, 
according to the Economist (Economist, 8/15). In a "Viewpoint" arti-
cle published last month in the Lancet and reprinted yesterday in the 
Ugandan Monitor, Justin Parkhurst of the London School of Hygiene and 
Tropical Medicine writes that although there is little doubt that 
Uganda has been successful in reducing its HIV prevalence rate, it is 
unlikely that the rate fell from 30% to 10% over the last decade as 
the government claims. 

He acknowledges that Uganda has "been successful in preventing the 
spread of HIV in many ways, and that there are meaningful lessons to 
be learned from the way the government and other institutions have 
tackled the disease." However, he states that the country's success 
has been exaggerated, most likely because of "political pressure to 
present an image of success" to retain international donor funding. 

Parkhurst says that the international community has perhaps not in-
vestigated the nation's claims more thoroughly because it also 
"feel[s] under pressure to present successful examples of HIV preven-
tion, especially in view of the high-profile nature of the problem 
and growing media attention on the profound effect of AIDS in Af-
rica." Parkhurst cautions health officials from drawing conclusions 
from an "oversimplified assessment of the epidemiological data" and 
attempting to apply the Ugandan model elsewhere (Parkhurst, Lancet, 
7/6). The Economist notes that Parkhust's article caused "pandemo-
nium" in Uganda, and was denounced as "slanderous" by officials and 
AIDS researchers. However, Parkhurst "may have hit on something" in 
need of further investigation, the Economist concludes (Economist, 
8/15). 

--
Claudio Schuftan
Hanoi, Vietnam
mailto:aviva@netnam.vn

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