18 August 2006

As the World AIDS Conference closes, ActionAid says that people who live with and are affected by HIV & AIDS should be counted as the real leaders in the fight against AIDS.

ActionAid’s Ugandan director of HIV & AIDS programmes, Leonard Okello said: "This week I have seen positive activists from Africa, Asia and the Americas strive valiantly to have their voices heard, but they have found it difficult to get on the platforms that count.

"Aids leadership rests predominantly with Western politicians, World Bank and IMF bureaucrats, UN civil servants and giant pharmaceutical companies. That must change.

"The voice of the grass roots must not be sidelined. Until the poorest and most vulnerable have a seat at the table, and have real influence, we will never defeat the AIDS virus."

ActionAid acknowledges that money, powerful leaders and movie stars are useful in highlighting the needs of people living with HIV & AIDS, but argues that a world conference must not ignore the drivers of the epidemic - poverty, injustice and inequality.

"Unfortunately, the focus of the conference has been shifted to power and money rather than the proven experiences of people living with HIV & AIDS, which should be the real focus of attention," Okello said.

ActionAid questions the commitment of world leaders towards Aids treatment, and charges that a retired American president and a businessman - Bill Clinton and Bill Gates –­ no matter how committed, are being used to get photo opportunities and divert attention from the fact that no state leader or even the host Prime Minister – Stephen Harper – has bothered to attend.

"We are already seeing world leaders backtracking on their commitments for universal access to AIDS care and treatment by 2010," Okello said. "Nothing, except the will to fight back by people living with HIV & AIDS, and the determination of the activists that support them, gives hope for improvement."