A bubble containing 20,716 people from around the world is a big bubble, but being back in the United States of America after being in the capital city of the United States of Mexico, the second largest metropolis in the world with 20 million residents, for the XVII International AIDS Conference August 3-8, makes me feel like it was just that – a bubble, and now it has burst.

I’ve asked just about everyone I’ve talked to since being back if there was much coverage of the conference in the media while I was in Mexico City.  A few people heard the report about the increased number of estimated new annual infections in this country (56,300 CDC) – something I mentioned last month in my column.  A neighbor told me that National Public Radio had a few stories during the week; and I received an e-mail with links to pieces published in the New York Times by the noted reporter/doctor Larry Altman whom I stood next to while collecting press releases in the media room at the conference.

Beyond that, I haven’t heard much about the numerous presentations and stories on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis, and correlated issues from around the world that could be news for a public that is burdened by the “John Edwards” story, and local murders, and drug related crimes. 

At least there were links to the conference (www.aids2008.org and www.kaisernetwork.org ) on the OIA website, thanks to the wonderful team here in Asheville.  Otherwise, life goes on with little fanfare.  But don’t be tricked, the epidemic continues to rage out of control.  It is the epidemic of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which causes the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The United Nations estimates that over twenty-five million men, women, and children around the world have died because of it, 33 million more are living with the virus, and 2.5 million are newly infected with HIV every year.

I wrote in my travel log that upon arrival at the Centro Banamex for registration the voices and languages of delegates from faraway nations were all around me.  It is magic to my ears, causing a desperate yearning to remain among such diversity and to teach all people in this country, especially for children, the importance of studying the multiple tongues of the world.

There were 20 delegates from Andorra, 71 from Botswana, 264 from China, 55 from Guyana, 8 from the Islamic Republic of Iran, 50 from Mozambique, 65 from Romania, 11 from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 608 from South Africa, 1 from Tuvalu, 222 from Uganda, and 5078 from the United States of America, among the many others; all of us there representing the epidemic from home, and seeking answers for the future of treatment and care, and prevention.

At the Auditorio Nacional in the opening session there were video greetings from Nelson Mandela and other dignitaries projected on the jumbo screen. One such message came from Craig McClure, executive director of the International AIDS Society, which puts together this conference, “For anyone who thinks that AIDS is over, think again.”  In that connection he added that we all have a role to play in fulfilling the “Universal Access” goal of having 10 million eligible people on antiretroviral therapy by 2010.

As many as 3 million people in what are considered “low and medium income” countries outside of the US and Europe are now on ART in great part due to private sources such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the William J. Clinton Foundation, as well as the work of the World Health Organization, coordination by UNAIDS, and PEPFAR, the recently reauthorized President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief to the tune of $48 billion over a 5-year period.  Many other governments and funders, and even some pharmaceutical companies must get credit for their involvement in this outstanding strategy to restore hope for life to people in developing nations, for whom a diagnosis of HIV infection or AIDS has meant an inevitable death sentence.

The theme of this conference was “Acción Universal ¡Ya!” - Universal Action Now!  We heard that demand throughout the week.  Universal action includes making sure clean water supplies are available to all men, women, and children on Earth; that human rights are provided to everyone – including men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people, drug users, women and girls, and young people – all of whom are especially vulnerable and at risk of HIV infection around the world, and are many times criminalized in their home countries.

We heard there are an estimated 4.9 million injection drug users in Asia, and 40% to 60% of HIV cases there are among IDUs.  We heard a plea to end homophobia, even in our churches.  Mexican President Felipe Calderón told us about the anti-homophobia law in his country, to which our former President Clinton stated in his keynote address, “Maybe his neighbors to the north should heed this example and learn some lessons about human rights.” 

Peter Piot, Director of UNAIDS, on the tenth anniversary of the death of that agency’s founder, Jonathan Mann, said “Every country that still has the ban [for HIV positive people to travel and enter a country] should abolish it.” He then quoted Bob Marley’s call to “Get up, Stand up.  Stand up for your rights – don’t give up the fight.”

Shocking statements continued, and this was just the first night.  Ninety percent of all children with HIV live in Africa.  Mother to child transmission there has finally been brought down to 4%, compared to the United States where it is 1%.  Dr. Margaret Chan from China said, “We have cause for optimism, but we must not let down our guard.  The epidemic is far from over.  We must be in this for the long run.  We must scale-up comprehensive sex education for young people.”  She continued by saying, “We are facing a diversity of epidemics around the world – there is no one easy response to the epidemic.”

And you don’t think I was in a bubble?! 

Mind you, all of these speeches were being simultaneously interpreted in sign language by three people on stage.  They worked for two hours straight without much of a break.  It was moving.

Near the end of it all, Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, reported that 1/3 of countries don’t have protections for people living with HIV.  Universal Action Now!  And that concluded the speakers at the opening session.  Our recessional was the music and theme song from VIH no es una Banda de Rock! / HIV is not a Rock Band!  They were great.

Next month I will tell you more about the rest of the week and conference.  I have a bag full of flyers, reports, messages, papers, and data at our new WNCAP office.  You are welcome to visit and look at or copy what you want.  Overall there was nothing groundbreaking in terms of ending the epidemic.  In fact, in one plenary session, plans for 2031 were being discussed.  That will be the 50-year mark from when the first HIV infections were reported as GRID and ARC (Gay Related Immune Deficiency and AIDS-Related Complex).
 
For our own national interest, please visit www.BlackAIDS.org where you will see conference coverage and the document entitled Left Behind – Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS Epidemic.  Phill Wilson, CEO and Founder of the Black AIDS Institute hosted a daily breakfast for the media and others to hear about conference highlights and suggestions for important sessions not to miss.  U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) was part of a press conference on behalf of the Black AIDS Institute and spoke on this mostly invisible but crucially important issue for the health of our nation.

I look forward to being part of the long-term strategy of addressing HIV/AIDS here at home, and also worldwide.  However, I realized at this conference that there must be a “next generation” of committed people to take forward the new prevention messages into the future when I am gone.

Let’s talk.

Peace.

Michael Harney – the Rubberman - can be reached at WNC AIDS Project 828-252-7489 ext. 311.