Combating HIV/AIDS in Africa—The Hypocrisy Approach

Would a Cuban approach to combating HIV/AIDS have saved the lives of more than 30 million people?

A flower lays on the engraved names of AIDS victims at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco, Calif., on Dec. 1, 2015. World AIDS Day has been observed on Dec. 1 since 1988, and is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection, and to mourn those who have died from the disease. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The Failure of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Strategies

According to the most recent data released by UNAIDS, 36.9 million people globally were living with HIV in 2014, with 70 percent of them living in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2014, 1.2 million people died from AIDS-related causes, with sub-Saharan Africa making up 65 percent of deaths.

UNAIDS has been directed by an African since 2009. This gave new hope to Africans.

But although the global mortality has decreased from 2 million in 2005 to 1.2 million in 2014, we are still faced with an unacceptable situation affecting particularly the African continent. The international organizations combating HIV/AIDS continue to ignore the particular sociocultural characteristics of the continent, where being HIV positive is still something to hide, even to your family and close friends.

Since 1988 the world has observed World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. On these occasions reference is often made to the failures of the international community to bring AIDS to a halt—especially in sub-Sahara Africa. This year’s campaign theme is On the Fast-Track to end AIDS. Yes, there is certainly a need to speed up, but more so with new strategies, as will be argued in this article.

A poster on the wall at the St. Bernadette's Resource Center for the Blind in Maseru, Lesotho, on Feb. 24, 2013. Chris Jackson/Getty Images