Global AIDS Summit, Paris, December 1

Leaders of about 40 nations will gather in Paris on World
AIDS Day, December 1, for the first-ever international summit
meeting on AIDS. According to the organizers -- the French
government, and the World Health Organization -- this is the
first time in world history that heads of government will be
considering a health problem.

The meeting will seek:

* Funding for international research programs to develop
vaccines and better treatment;

* Agreements to reduce discrimination against people with
AIDS, including travel bans like those of the United States
and many Arab countries;

* Access to health care -- including prevention, education,
and treatment for vulnerable population groups;

* "A more effective global response to the AIDS pandemic
based upon the basic principles of respect for individual
rights and moral ethics."

The preparatory meetings have found that developing countries
are interested, but the developed countries, who would have
to supply much of the funding, are often reluctant.

U.S. Press Coverage -- No News

AIDS TREATMENT NEWS did computer searches of the full text of
all stories in several dozen leading U.S. newspapers, and
found only six that even mentioned the Paris summit once.
None mentioned it more than once. Only Reuters, the
international news service, cover the summit effectively.

Of the five U.S. newspapers that mentioned the summit, two
devoted two short paragraphs each. One had two sentences; the
other two, one sentence each. This may be the total U.S.
press coverage so far.

What is more alarming are reports of responsible U.S.
officials, and leading AIDS experts in private organizations,
not even knowing about preparatory meetings, after the
preparations were well under way.

The U.S. delegation to the Paris summit will be headed by
Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala; it had
been hoped that at least Vice President Gore would attend
this summit, planned as a meeting of heads of state. Also, it
appears that Japan is willing to make a serious financial
commitment to stopping the global epidemic, but the U.S. is
offering little new money.

The commitment of many countries will be influenced by what
the U.S. does. A commitment comparable to that at the recent
Cairo meeting (the United Nations International Conference on
Population and Development, where the U.S. delegation was led
by Vice President Gore), would support the French effort to
build momentum for an effective international AIDS response.

Note that the Cairo conference attracted enormous U.S.
government and media attention, even though population is not
seen as a bread-and-butter issue that directly affects most
people in the U.S. AIDS affects individuals much more
severely, yet a comparable international meeting on AIDS has
received almost no attention. Perhaps we can study this
example to learn how to better mobilize interest, attention,
and support in the future.