UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

UNAIDS The First 10 Years88Reference Group on Estimates and Modelling. Thegroup continues to meet once or twice a year to guideUNAIDS on the tools and the methodologies for doingcountry-, regional- and global-level estimates.After the 1997 meeting at the Census Bureau inWashington, DC, Schwartländer had taken the dataaway with him. “For the first time, there were seriousestimates of the number of new infections and thenumber of people dying. It was so daunting thinking ofthe consequences of going public with these numbers.It was a huge responsibility”.He contacted various members of the group todouble-check his figures. The data suggested theepidemic was now on a scale he and his colleagueshad not believed possible.In Schwartländer’s opinion, the data produced at the Geneva conference were “a realmilestone that cannot possibly be overestimated”.Using data to promoteawareness of the spread ofthe epidemic has alwaysbeen an essential role forUNAIDS.The data on HIV and AIDS have always been contentious, a place for ‘turf wars’ 19 . Somecountries protested about their data: UNAIDS explained they had taken the best data theycould find. Schwartländer’s reply was: “If you have better information, share it with us. We’llthen use it. We want to be evidence-based”.The June 1998 figures were criticized as exaggerated by some epidemiologists and healthworkers. Piot explained: “A lot of the criticism has to do with scientists who believe their diseaseis more important than someone else’s”. Such turf wars have continued to the present day.Greater engagement and political will‘Peter Piot has a seemingly impossible job’, wrote Balter in Science magazine 20 . ‘With a staffof 130 and a budget of just US$ 60 million a year, Piot is seeking to turn the tide against adisease that has killed more than 11 million people over the past two decades and is relentlesslyextending its reach’. Piot was quoted as saying that his ‘biggest disappointment is thelack of political commitment in many countries, both rich and poor … Things are happeningunder people’s noses and they don’t see it’.19Altman L K (1999). ‘In Africa, a deadly silence about AIDS is lifting’. New York Times, 13 July.20Balter (1998).