The South Asian response to AIDS is still mired in denial, ignorance and wishful thinking. But with more than a million AIDS orphans in the region, it is time the problem is tackled head-on. Look to Uganda for the answers.
"…Extreme poverty is the world's biggest killer and the greatest cause of ill-health and suffering across the globe," said South African President Thabo Mbeki in his opening address to the 13th global AIDS conference in Durban in July. Even as he was speaking, a number of people began walking out.
South Africa is home to the largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world—a staggering 4.2 million.
"Some in our common world consider the questions I and the rest of our government have raised around the HIV-AIDS issue…as akin to grave criminal and genocidal misconduct. What I hear said repeatedly, stridently, angrily, is—do not ask any questions!"