If we are to toss AIDS into the dustbin, we must do our best to understand the intersections of scientific discovery and community wisdom, address the truths in both, and move forward with decisions that take into consideration a full, robust interpretation of the evidence base.
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
[Please look for us on Facebook here www.facebook.com/MappingPathways and you can follow us on Twitter @mappingpathways as well.]
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
These
are extraordinary times in which we are living. More than three decades into
the global HIV pandemic, discussing ‘the end of AIDS’ is more than a rhetorical
flourish, more than political grandstanding, and more than wishful thinking.
At
this very moment, we have ‘the end of AIDS’ in our collective sights in a way
we have never had before. Even as the epidemic continues to wreak havoc in the
lives of far too many of our precious daughters, sons, sisters, brothers,
mothers, fathers, friends and colleagues across the world – new and exciting
scientific discoveries are pointing to a future where AIDS is a brutish
artefact of history.
Science
has shown us that treating HIV-positive people with a combination of
antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) is not only good for the individual being treated,
but also imparts a prevention benefit for the broader community as well. People
on successful treatment do not get sick and die, and are much less likely to
pass their infection to their partners.
Science
has also shown that ARV drugs provided to HIV-negative individuals can protect
them from the virus if exposed, much like anti-malarial drugs prevent malaria.
And there are new, user-friendly ways to deliver ARVs being developed and
tested at this very moment.
We
simply must take the critical next steps to end AIDS now that science proves it
can be achieved. If enough global citizens, people of faith, members of the
private sector and world leaders summon the courage to accelerate and increase
their investments in the global response to overcome AIDS, we have a very good
chance of containing the worst viral scourge the world has ever known.
Conducting
research in India, South Africa and the US, Mapping Pathways has taken such a
step, one that helps make ‘real-world’ sense of the incredibly dynamic nature
of the science. With new discoveries and insights coming so quickly it is hard to
keep up.
Much
like politics, all science is local. The understanding of what this new science
means is local. Its utility is local. Yes, we have compelling results from
clinical trials, and make no mistake, we will have more. But the opinions,
perspectives and lived wisdom of communities, from the grassroots to the grasstops,
matter just as much as the peer-reviewed scientific data that are coming at us
fast and furiously. How communities absorb, understand and prioritise the
science matters.
Placing
a premium on a ‘people-centred’ interpretation of the science, Mapping Pathways
has tapped the smarts, and the hearts, of advocates, researchers, clinicians, policymakers,
pharmacists, funders, public health workers and people living with HIV. The results
of their journey are illustrated in this monograph. I hope these findings will
help communities across the globe grapple with the promises, and the marked
complexities, of this thrilling new prevention paradigm in which we find
ourselves.
I
recommend Mapping Pathways – Developing evidence-based, people-centred
strategies for the use of antiretrovirals as prevention. If we are to toss AIDS
into the dustbin, we must do our best to understand the intersections of
scientific discovery and community wisdom, address the truths in both, and move
forward with decisions that take into consideration a full, robust
interpretation of the evidence base.
Let
us map new pathways together, for our generation and for those who follow. Let
us be the generation to make the difference.
Let
us be done with AIDS.
-Archbishop Desmond Tutu
[This is the foreword penned by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the new Mapping Pathways report "Developing evidence-based, people-centred strategies for the use of antiretrovirals as prevention." Click here for podcasts, an infographic, and a video associated with this report.]
[This is the foreword penned by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the new Mapping Pathways report "Developing evidence-based, people-centred strategies for the use of antiretrovirals as prevention." Click here for podcasts, an infographic, and a video associated with this report.]
[Please look for us on Facebook here www.facebook.com/MappingPathways and you can follow us on Twitter @mappingpathways as well.]
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