Australia, Europe and U.S. succed in reducing HIV cases

By Nona Pooroe Utomo

MELBOURNE (JP): The United States, European countries and Australia have succeeded in substantially reducing the number of new infections of HIV/AIDS among gay communities, a United Nations official said here yesterday.

The program and planning coordinator of the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Purnima Mane, said at the AIDS Impact's 3rd International Conference on Biopsychosocial Aspects of HIV Infection that AIDS in the United States, Europe and Australia was mostly under control because of an effective strategy among gay communities.

In the United States the decline in national figures on the spread of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was mostly caused by extreme decreases in San Francisco and Los Angeles, which have the largest gay communities in America, where early infections were detected in large proportions during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Mane said.

almost 500 representatives from 30 countries are attending the three-day conference, opened Sunday by Australian Governor General Sir William Deane.

Mane said that based on social research among gays, the decrease in the number of new infections was caused mainly by the very high level of behavioral changes in sexual practices.

However, efforts to reduce the number of new infections in developing countries were less successful, mostly due to the lack of strategies targeting heterosexual men, Mane said.

Women

Most strategies in the developing world were aimed at women since it was accepted that women needed to be empowered to be able to discuss sex-related issues with their partners. The loophole was that heterosexual men, who were the partners of such women, were not considered as an essential part of the strategy to reduce the spread of HIV.

The president of the Malaysian Council of Non-governmental Organizations on AIDS, Marina Mahathir, told the meeting Sunday that poor government participation in Asian countries had delayed anti-AIDS campaigns and caused increases in the number of new infections.

"It is evident that non-governmental organizations have responded first and fastest, even though their reach is not wide enough and their efforts are hampered by lack of resources and support from their governments," said Marina, who is a daughter of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad.

She said NGOs had developed the expertise and networks required to implement AIDS prevention programs but some governments were slow to acknowledge their efforts.

NGOs proved to be more effective than government bodies, especially in areas with great cultural and religious sensitivities, and were regarded as essential partners in AIDS prevention programs, she said.

But many NGOs faced difficulties sustaining their work due to a lack of funds and human resources, as well as poor cooperation among themselves, she added.