373P
EXPLORING DISPARITIES BETWEEN GLOBAL AIDS FUNDING AND RECENT TSUNAMI RELIEF EFFORTS
AN Samarasekera, TK Christie, JS Montaner
British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, British Columbia
Objective: To contrast relief efforts for the January 26th Tsunami with global HIV/AIDS contributions and put forth possible reasons for the disparity.
Methods: Literature review and ethical analysis.
Results: Canada's pledge for tsunami relief recently reached $425 million. In contrast, funding for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Strategy is increasing to $84.4 million over the next five years, and Canada's pledge of $70 million for the Global Fund remains below that deemed fair by the Equitable Contribution Framework. This disparity is echoed internationally, as exemplified by the $5 billion pledged for tsunami relief compared to the $3.6 billion spent last year on global AIDS. Some attribute this difference to the morally-neutral nature of the tsunami disaster; quite unlike that of the HIV/AIDS "wave". Discrimination and stigma continue to be central to the HIV-positive experience. A recent American study revealed that a significant proportion of people believe people with AIDS to be responsible for their illness. HIV-related discrimination has also been documented in Australia, Ghana, Canada and Zambia, among other places. Furthermore, a history of racist thought underpins the "science" that hypothesized an African origin of AIDS. False belief in the hyper-sexuality of Africans making them more prone to sexually-transmitted diseases has shaped the social construction of HIV/AIDS in the west.
Conclusions: The January 26th tsunami was a truly horrific event, and, thus, ongoing relief efforts are both necessary and justified. However, it is important to note that the tsunami's death toll matches the monthly figure for HIV/AIDS in Africa. We argue that disparities in funding could be attributed to perceived moral differences between tsunami victims and people living with AIDS. The immoral image of the latter is exemplified by studies documenting HIV-related stigma and a history of racist thought upon which hypotheses about the origins of the disease are founded.