Creditworthiness of AIDS patients

If it serves only to remind us of the inevitable progression of the pandemic, the ritual of World AIDS Day is important.

This year, out of the 6 million people who have contracted the AIDS virus, 95 percent live in developing countries. And the worst is to come.

A dramatic paradox underlies this situation: As the pandemic loses force in industrialized countries, doctors, researchers and associations receive fewer means to combat the virus. It is as if, yet again, an unwritten rule is applied: What determines the priority of research is not the number of patients concerned, but rather the creditworthiness of patients who are or will be affected.

The international community must beware of such reasoning. In too often considering the profitability of research programs, we forget that this pandemic will have economic and financial repercussions for creditor countries. It is not the moment for eloquent speeches and superficial initiatives: We must have real mobilization.

-- Le Monde, Paris