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Monday, December 1, 1997

Plague of the world

DISEASE: World AIDS Day marks increasing awareness, progress toward a cure

By Rachel Munoz

Daily Bruin Staff

Nov. 26 starts the season with Thanksgiving. Then Christmas comes on Dec. 25. Finally, Jan. 1 welcomes the New Year to wrap up the festivities. In the midst of this celebratory season, shadowed by more recognized holidays, one day stands apart to commemorate something unrelated to turkey or gift-giving: AIDS.

Across the globe, Dec. 1 marks World AIDS Day, born nine years ago when a summit of health ministers from around the world called for a spirit of social tolerance and a greater exchange of information on HIV and AIDS.

"The day is really important in focusing world attention on the epidemic," said Brad Sears, an AIDS patient and founder of the HIV Legal Check-Up Project, designed to provide legal services to people diagnosed with HIV or AIDS.

"In the past, (World AIDS Day) has been a time of remembrance ... of people who have died," Sears said. But this year, he feels that the day seems to be regarded a little more optimistically, perhaps due to its theme: "Give Children Hope in a World with AIDS."

Although the theme is designed to challenge people to remember that AIDS affects everyone, including children, it also incorporates a message of hope. The idea: that children are not helpless in a world with AIDS, as they are humankind's most precious resource for change.

"In 1996 alone, 400,000 children under the age of 15 became infected with HIV," said President Clinton in an August statement regarding World AIDS Day. "As the disease infects our children, it strikes at the future of our nation and our world."

In view of the worldwide situation, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the international sponsor of World AIDS Day, carries the goal of "providing assistance to countries and ensuring international best practice." In addition, UNAIDS "supports research and continues work with existing programs to lead a more powerful international response for HIV/AIDS."

Overall, the aim of this year's World AIDS Day is for "increased understanding of the magnitude of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its global dimensions," according to the American Association for World Health. This includes "an emphasis on promoting action and sound policies to prevent HIV transmission and to minimize the epidemic's impact on children, their families and their communities."

"If I could focus people's attention on one thing this year," Sears said, "it would be that this is a time of optimism, but also a time to remember how much farther we have to go."

Clinton echoes those same thoughts .

"We have come a long way in our struggle to overcome this epidemic, but we still have a tough road ahead. New treatments and heightened awareness contributed a 19 percent decline in AIDS deaths last year," he said. "However, the battle is not over."

Sears couldn't agree more but insists that making a speech on World AIDS Day just isn't enough. There are still a lot of political barriers to be torn down in advancing a cure for HIV/AIDS. Sears believes that political leaders often talk about how they would like to find a cure but rarely stand behind university research that shows progress.

Even with a vaccine, Sears still feels that complications will persist.

"Medically when there is a cure, the social and political fallout of the disease will last for years," he said. He feels the greatest challenge will be to provide minorities and underprivileged people with access to the services.

While the United States worries about finding a cure for HIV/AIDS, it appears that the battle on the disease is only just beginning for the rest of the world. With 21 million infected with HIV and six million diagnosed with AIDS, this disease is a worldwide problem that might not concern U.S. citizens when things are going so well here at home.

A new drug therapy known as the "cocktail combination," has been part of why things are going so well in the United States, slowing down the epidemic for many. Unfortunately, these new drugs are not available to the rest of the world while the spread of HIV and AIDS is on the rise.

"It's an optimistic time in America because there are drugs to slow down HIV and AIDS," said Professor Roger Bohman, who teaches a biology class on AIDS. But unlike the epidemic problem spreading throughout the world, optimism is not.

A lot of testing for new drugs takes place in underdeveloped countries, Bohman said, and if the testing proves that a drug could work, then that drug is brought back to the United States.

In addition, he feels that there is a moral problem with these test policies. These policies essentially use citizens of underdeveloped countries as guinea pigs for the drugs, he said, but do not make those drugs available to them - or the rest of the world - for that matter.

But another issue bothers him as well: the fact that any regard for World AIDS Day by UCLA students seems to be dissolving.

"The history of World AIDS Day ... on campus ... is diminishing. There used to be a whole series of events. It's apathy," he said. He commented that so far this year no one has mentioned World AIDS Day to him.

To prove his point, he randomly asked about 10 people in the room if they knew when World AIDS Day was recognized and not a single person could answer.

"It's almost unbelievable that people are unaware of the AIDS problem," Bohman continued. "But there is so much information put out on AIDS that we ignore it."

Bohman compares the situation to walking into a noisy room: after a while the noise gets ignored and tuned out.

Although Bohman regards Dec. 1 as "a symbolic day," he likens it to a holiday such as Veterans Day. We observe it, but its true content might not necessarily be considered.

On a more optimistic note, Sears feels that Dec. 1 should reflect the progress made with the disease.

"This is the beginning of the end of the epidemic," he said. He feels that first steps have been taken to the progress of finding a cure.

So, will future Worlds AIDS Days bring more remembrance with candlelight vigils or mark our progress in controlling HIV and AIDS?

"I would like to see it (World AIDS Day) go away," Sears said. We will truly have something to commemorate when HIV/AIDS is no longer a problem, he believes.

GALA, the Student Welfare Commission and the University Religious Center are sponsoring a non-denominational memorial service at the Sculpture Garden today from 12 p.m.-1 p.m.