AIDS: global problem, global solution

World AIDS Day isn’t about saving the world in a day, says Nick Martlew. It’s about remembering that in the fight against HIV and AIDS we’ve got allies everywhere.

''We’re just small parts of a World AIDS Day – what difference can we make? For me, the answer’s simple: a world of difference.'' ''The ‘World’ in ‘World AIDS Day’ is about the solution, as well as the problem.'' ''Hilary Benn spoke of the enormous challenge facing the world, the progress made, and the great distance still to go.''

World AIDS Day - let’s break that down. ‘World’: the world – as anyone who’s been watching Planet Earth knows – is a big place. Secondly, ‘AIDS’. The epidemic is shocking and devastating in its scale. There are 40 million people living with HIV; every day 8,000 people die from AIDS-related illnesses. And the final part: ‘Day’. Just one day. 24 hours. We’re just small parts of a World AIDS Day – what difference can we make? For me, the answer’s simple: a world of difference.

Last week I was on Bradford Community Broadcasting, a community radio station, talking about Oxfam’s campaigns for World AIDS Day. One other guest was Professor John Wright - Clinical Director of Bradford Hospital Trust. John has worked for many years with a HIV awareness project in Swaziland. He described how AIDS leaves in its wake whole communities of orphans trying to survive alone. When John started on the project 10 years ago life expectancy in Swaziland was 68 years. Now it is 32 years.

Facts like that can take the wind out of you. But as the show progressed, something struck me. The presenter had News 24 showing in the studio and there on the screen was Bill Clinton. He was explaining how his Foundation has slashed the cost of two crucial generic drugs for HIV and AIDS. Maybe it’s a delusion of grandeur, but in that small volunteer-run studio in Bradford, we were taking part in a worldwide effort to overcome HIV and AIDS. The ‘World’ in ‘World AIDS Day’ is about the solution, as well as the problem.

Big plans in small rooms

Later in the day, that same unity of purpose was profoundly reinforced. I had organised a group of campaigners to meet Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for International Development - to discuss Oxfam’s campaigns for Access to Medicines and four million more health workers in developing countries. We squeezed into a miniscule meeting room and thrashed out the issues.

It was a cramped, intense meeting but its significance was highlighted in the final chapter of the day. Mr Benn addressed a Terrence Higgins Trust event in Leeds to mark World AIDS Day. Without repetition, deviation, or notes, he spoke of the enormous challenge facing the world, the progress made, and the great distance still to go. But, he said, we could not have come to where we are today – medication available for more people, stigma gradually being broken down and sexual behaviour changing across the world – without so many people demanding ever more progress and ever more justice.

There is a worldwide movement out there seeking to turn the tide on HIV and AIDS. So when I say ‘we’re all just small parts of World AIDS Day’, I say it not with belittling cynicism, but with the pride that comes from being on the side of change.