Venue of future AIDS Conference

[Guest guest]

Future International AIDS conferences: North or South?

Dr. Khalid Hasan, Bangladesh

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It be should in a country where every one can enter with no Visa problems!

We haven't forgotten that Spain did not want to grant Visa to the

participants. This is the attitude of many " developed " nations. Conference

should be in any country, no matter whether it is North or South. The

matter is whether that country is interested to provide visa to all the

participants.

So the question arises, do we need to hold such a big Conference in a

country like Spain (or countries having similar attitude) that adheres to

this type of so-called strict and unbending policies? We cannot let

countries having " mean policies " like this, hamper the progress of AIDS.

It is time for a change, and old practices should be dropped. It is thus

better to organize the AIDS Conference in Asian countries, like

Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Indonesia etc. and give

them the responsibility instead. This will empower these countries and

help them get the exposure needed on AIDS as a whole.

Khalid Hasan, PhD

Director OMQ

Associate Professor IBAT

& Rotarian, RC Club of Dhaka Midcity, Bangladesh

Email: hasank@...

[Guest guest]

Excellent post by Dr. Hassan! First, the good news is that

the 2004 conference will be held in Bangkok.

Certainly, the United States may NEVER hold such a conference;

the outrageous laws against HIV+ immigration were the reason

Mann had the site moved from Boston to Amsterdam

in 1993 (I believe). Despicably, this law has not changed under

Clinton--and is very unlikely to under the current despotic

regime.

One thing that Barcelona appeared to ignore almost completely was

indigenous medicine. This is a mistake. While many in the west can

refer to it with arrogant dismissiveness as " alternative " medicine, for

most HIV+ people, it is the ONLY medicine.

Indeed, there are MANY sleazy people around the world selling crap or

overpriced stuff and claiming cures or dramatic results. But that doesn't mean

that nothing from the botanical world (or nutritional) is not helpful. Clearly,

there are many interventions that can help. The Foundation for Integrative

AIDS Research (FIAR; pronounced like " fire " ) hopes to help with clinical

evaluation of more promising interventions. While assuring that if there

are any intellectual property rights issues or commercial benefit should

trials produce positive results, that those proceeds are targeted to

community needs: people with HIV, infrastructure, farming and

harvesting and conservation efforts. Not to fatten the coffers of

transnational corporations who will turn around and jack up the

price.

This is another VITAL reason to have more major AIDS

conferences in South Asia, Africa and South America. Ones

that are not so compromised by the pharmaceutical circuses

of past conferences--let alone ones that are not interfered with

by the insanity of the United States government in its pursuit

of ludicrous " abstinence only " policies.

The recent edition of Science, July 19, 2002 features

on its cover some infant shots of the beta-catenin enhanced

Brain.* You know. Of Pinky and the Brain fame.

The apparently dismal Barcelona conference was reviewed

in a pithy article by Jon Cohen, " Tough Challenges Ahead

on Political and Scientific Fronts " and featured a discussion

of Tommy T's futile address and its disruption by

AIDS activists around the world.

Perhaps I missed it, but in yet another stellar example

of our appointed " leader " 's ability to exert his muscle

without the benefit of brains, it appears that the Bushit

administration also forced the removal of Thai speaker,

Mechai Viravaidya from the speaker's roster.

His offense? He speaks openly and forcefully about

the need for condom use.

The administration denies that the reason for his

removal was that his message conflicts with the

" abstinence only " approach Bush favors, but their stated

reason on wanting to focus on the " Global Fund " is as

laughable (graveyard humor) as it is pathetically

hypocritical, given how little the US has provided.

Let alone the horror of the observation that they

have so much control over the International Conference

agenda.

M.

Director, FIAR

http://aidsinfonyc.org/fiar

e-MAIL: <gmc0@...>

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