tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38509700.post-37423342445573269702008-05-12T14:07:00.002-04:002008-05-15T11:07:52.502-04:00The authors of “<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5877/749">Reassessing HIV Prevention</a>,” an article in the most recent issue of <i><a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a></i>, question the assumptions behind current HIV prevention interventions in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 /><st1:place st="on">Africa</st1:place>. The authors challenge the commonly accepted belief that poverty and political instability increase a population’s vulnerability to HIV infection, arguing that it is not supported by the evidence. They point to data demonstrating that “African regions suffering from conflict, genocide, and rape, such as <st1:country-region st="on">Rwanda</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region st="on">Congo</st1:country-region>, and <st1:country-region st="on">Angola</st1:country-region>, are much less affected by AIDS than peaceful, wealthier, and more literate countries such as <st1:country-region st="on">Botswana</st1:country-region> or <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Swaziland</st1:country-region></st1:place>, which have the world's highest HIV prevalence.”<span id="fullpost"><br /><br /><a href="http://www.theirc.org/resources/2007/2006-7_congomortalitysurvey.pdf">Studies</a> have shown that civil war and the breakdown of health service delivery result in an increase in preventable deaths—such as those due to malnutrition, diarrhea, and malaria—but perhaps HIV follows a different pattern. Clearly, there is a need for research that compares the spread of HIV/AIDS in politically stable, wealthier African countries with those torn by conflict.<br /><br />At a 2007 ECSP event on the <a href="http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1413&amp;fuseaction=topics.event_summary&amp;event_id=219081">human cost of war</a>, Dr. Frederick Burkle of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative—who will discuss <a href="http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=116811&amp;fuseaction=topics.event&amp;event_id=403578">public health management after natural disasters</a> on June 17—admitted that the direct impact of poverty, inequality, and cultural incompatibilities on the spread of infectious diseases and mortality during complex emergencies is “difficult, if not impossible,” to measure.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/38509700-3742334244557326970?l=newsecuritybeat.blogspot.com'/></div>Kai Carternoreply@blogger.com0