When President George W. Bush signed the HIV/AIDS bill into law on May 27, many countries applauded; but the debate continues over how the $15 billion pledged for HIV/AIDS prevention in 14 African and Caribbean nations should be spent.
Some say the focus should be on programs that encourage abstinence and fidelity. Others want the money to be spent on condom promotion as well. Still others debate the role that faith-based organizations should play in HIV/AIDS prevention.
One unusual nonprofit organization has been doing all three for nearly 20 years and, where the situation requires it, joining hands with religious organizations. "We have long promoted all of the "ABCs" -- Abstinence, Be faithful and Condoms -- along with voluntary counseling and testing with a great deal of success," says Richard A. Frank, president of Population Services International. PSI is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit agency founded in 1970 to improve the health of poor and vulnerable people in more than 70 developing countries.
"Experience shows that the best approach is a comprehensive one. We can't rely on one or two methods. We must use every tool at our disposal to deal with AIDS," adds Frank. One of the main tools PSI uses is social marketing, which combines education to motivate healthy behavior with the provision of needed health products and services at subsidized prices. PSI is unique among non-profit organizations working in HIV/AIDS in that it works through the private, commercial sector, which is financially motivated to stock and sell products.
Frank says people who are poor and at risk appreciate the value of the products and services they receive more because they have a personal stake in them. In 2002 alone, sales of PSI products and services are estimated to have averted 500,000 cases of HIV around the world. That is equivalent to 10 percent of all new infections in the world in 2002.
Cambodia and Zambia are two examples of PSI programs that have been successful with different approaches. In Zambia, PSI emphasizes abstinence for youth and condoms for those who are already sexually active. Research shows that youth who saw PSI's mass media campaign promoting the idea that "abstinence is cool" were 1.7 times more likely to report abstinence. In Cambodia, where commercial sex is common, PSI supported the government's policy of 100 percent condom use in brothels. Since PSI started those two programs in the early 1990s, HIV prevalence has either stabilized or declined in both countries.
One of the PSI Zambia program's strongest supporters is former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda,. He lost a son to AIDS in 1986 and is now appearing in PSI public service announcements (PSAs) that urge Zambians to get tested, be compassionate with people infected with HIV and use condoms. President Bush applauded Kaunda's efforts the day he signed the HIV/AIDS bill into law.
"There were some who thought I should remain silent about the death my son, but Mrs. Kaunda and I decided to make this public? if we are to win the battle, we must confront this problem openly," he says in one of the ten PSAs. Kaunda is one of the first heads of state or former heads of state to make a direct appeal to his people to use condoms. He also helped PSI sit down with Christian leaders to map out a strategy for fighting AIDS.
In Cambodia, PSI recently launched a new HIV/AIDS prevention campaign with blessings from His Royal Highness King Norodom Sihanouk, who praised PSI for its "many achievements extremely beneficial to the health of the Cambodian people." PSI has worked with Buddhist monks to promote AIDS prevention in Cambodia for several years.
Nearly 60 percent of those infected by HIV in sub-Sahara Africa are women. Three million African children under 15 have the AIDS virus; and the disease has left 11 million orphans, more children than live in the entire state of California.
Courtesy of ARA Content
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