Critics Question Cost of AIDS Conference | Voice of America - English
The 17th International AIDS Conference is winding down in Mexico City. The closing ceremony will be held Friday. This was one of the biggest and most expensive such conferences, drawing more than 24,000 participants from all over the world.
Mostpeople in attendance here believe it was worth the expense and time tocome here for the AIDS Conference, but after several days of formalsessions and informal gatherings many admit to being exhausted and, insome cases, discouraged. More than two decades after AIDS firstappeared there have been some major improvements in treatment andprevention programs, but a cure remains elusive. The conference itselfis seen by many participants as a useful way of keeping world attentionon the problem, but some participants question whether the costinvolved was worth it. An African participant who spoke to VOAsuggested that perhaps all the money spent here would have been betterspent on AIDS research or treatment programs. One vocal criticis Elizabeth Pisani, author of , a book thatchronicles some of her experience working in the AIDS field for thepast 15 years. Speaking to VOA, she questions the direction theconference has taken. "It used to be a scientific conference, itused to be a place where people got together to catch up on oneanother's research and to really understand the latest of what is goingon. That is not so necessary anymore because communications have movedon so much-the internet, online journals. There are so many ways tocommunicate now that we did not have previously. Also, theseconferences have become so political and it so much about showmanship,"she said. Pisani says these conferences attract what she likesto call the "AIDS Mafia", which includes various non-governmentalorganizations as well as pharmaceutical firms and AIDS activists, allof whom, she says, benefit from the event. She says the host city, inthis case Mexico City, also benefits, not just from the money spent bythe more than 24,000 visitors, but directly from the profits ofthe conference itself. "Everyone here, as a delegate, paid $1,000 or more to be here. They are profit-making enterprisesand that profit gets shared between the International AIDS Society andthe city in which the conference is held. On the other hand, I am here.That is my personal hypocrisy. I am here because I get to catch up withold colleagues and such," she said. Elizabeth Pisani describesthe AIDS Conference as a big party that has value in bringing peopletogether, but may not be worth the millions of dollars spent on theevent and the money spent by the participants to get here. Inspite of her admission that she, too, is some ways part of what shecalls the "AIDS Mafia", Pisani and her ideas are not very popular withthe people who organized this event. Craig McClure, ExecutiveDirector of the International AIDS Society, the principal sponsor ofthe conference, rejects the idea that the money could have been betterspent elsewhere. He tells VOA that there is great value inbringing various groups and people together in common cause. "Industry,scientists, celebrities, politicians, all coming together to worktogether to respond to HIV sends a message to everyone working on everyother issue in the world that the way forward is to engage the peoplemost effected and to engage leadership. So I think this conference iswell worth the $25 million it costs to put it on," he said. McCluresays the conference is also valuable for the attention it draws fromthe international media, whose reports help remind the world of theimportance of prevention as well as the need for more research. He saysthe conference also has a positive impact on the country where it isheld. McClure says the benefits are already apparent here inMexico. "[There is] a stronger partnership between the community,science and the government. [There was] an announcement from President [Felipe] Calderon, who two years ago was actually quite conservativeabout HIV and AIDS. At the opening he announced that he would end thelaw that prevents the import of medication from companies that do nothave plants in Mexico. He met with 50 NGOs [non-governmentalorganizations] and committed to fighting homophobia," he said. The International AIDS Conference comes to a close Friday.