July 12, 2002

BARCELONA -- The 14th International AIDS Conference can be summed up in one phrase: “the world on the brink.”

Picking up from the title of the UNAIDS report on orphans of the pandemic, “Children on the Brink,” it is evident from the countless speeches, workshops and hallway conversations that the world – not just children – is on the brink of what many believe is the greatest threat to mankind. It is not the threat of nuclear war. It is not the threat of terrorism. It is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

And those most vulnerable, those on the front lines of the pandemic, are widows and orphans. Currently, 40 million people are infected with the HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Many times more are affected when husbands, wives, children, brothers, sisters and, most of all, parents become ill.

With millions of African children living without one or both of their parents, wealthy nations must do more to help ease the unspeakable burdens these widows and orphans must bear. They cannot wait years for a vaccine. They do not have access to the “AIDS cocktail” of anti-retroviral drugs. They represent an entire generation scarred for life by AIDS, growing up and growing old without the security, care and protection they need. They are poor. They are vulnerable. And they are fighting for meager resources just to survive.

Meeting the needs of those widows, orphans and other children at risk because of AIDS should be of primary importance to those wealthy nations, including those donating to and administering The Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Unless and until meeting the needs of those affected by AIDS becomes a priority, the world will edge closer and closer to the brink.