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International/ Global Health

Universal AIDS testing: should we save the many at the cost of harm to the few?

In a paper published in the Lancet yesterday, a group of WHO scientists
have suggested that a radical change to HIV testing would be necessary
to combat the epidemic. The authors published details of a mathematical
model of “universal voluntary testing” and early drug treatment of all
those found to have HIV in a country with HIV levels similar to those
present in Southern Africa. They present striking and provocative
evidence that this approach could reduce dramatically the incidence and
mortality from HIV within a fairly short period. The major ethical
question raised in response to their proposal is whether such a
strategy would violate the rights of individuals, and impose harms on
them in order to secure greater benefits for others.

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The world’s failure to fulfill its goals

The Guardian reports that the world is not on track for meeting the UN Millennium Development Goal to halt and reverse the increase in Malaria by 2015. While the funding for malaria prevention has increased up to $1 bn per annum, this is not enough to meet the declared goal. Indeed, while the figure sounds high, it is only $1 per person at risk or 0.002% of world GDP, which is not much for one of the UN’s major poverty reduction targets. Scientists at the Kenya Medical Research Institute estimate that 50% to 450% more funding is required to make the target. Sadly this situation with the malaria target is not unusual: the current estimates are that we will fail to meet every single one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

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Reverse Prostitution: cognitive biases and conditional cash transfers

Stuart Rennie writes a thoughtful blog on bioethics.net, Can
you buy changes in health behaviours? on how the World Bank backs an anti-AIDS experiment paying
young people to not contract sexually transmitted infections. The basic idea is not new, conditional cash transfer
programs in poor countries have had successes in improving health and education but applying it to sexual health moves it into more
controversial territory. Is there anything wrong with “reverse prostitution”?

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