End the stigma and ignorance

AFEW years ago, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invited some of India’s well-known writers to go on the road to uncover the Aids epidemic in that country.

One of them was economist and philosopher Amartya Sen – winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998 – who probably put his finger on the Aids dilemma when he said human ordeals thrive on ignorance.

If you succeed in understanding a problem with clarity, you are already half way towards solving it.

That is exactly what the 18 000 delegates attending the International Aids Conference in Durban, which opened on Monday, will be striving to achieve in their week-long deliberations.

The Aids indaba brings together scientists, public health leaders and workers, researchers and activists in a multi-pronged, global effort to establish a clear path forward in the war against the deadly epidemic.

Although much has been achieved in recent years – including huge advancements in the delivery of life-saving drugs to HIV-positive people – so much still remains to be done.

While scientists struggle to find a cure for HIV, delegates at the conference will be probing a wide range of intricately related issues.

How, for instance, do we step up the effort to stop HIV infections from spiralling out of control? What more can be done to improve access to comprehensive treatment? What preventative measures must be taken to curb the spread? How to deliver proper care and support to patients? And how to cope with the stigma around Aids?

We would be fooling ourselves if we believed the epidemic was limited to those living with HIV/Aids.

It is an issue that all South Africans should be aware of – irrespective of their age, race, religion or economic level.

We should become more involved in raising awareness of the epidemic, supporting those living with HIV and playing a role in educating young people about the virus and how it spreads.

As India-born physician and TV host Dr Partha Nandi, who is attending this week’s conference in Durban, said: “We have to unite, globally, in fighting the negative perceptions regarding HIV-infected individuals. Only then can we effectively eradicate this infection from our planet and stop the epidemic.”

Wise words that we ignore at our peril.