Close your eyes and imagine a land ravaged by plague.
Where twenty-five million people are walking slowly to their graves, and each day, more than 15,000 others fall prey to an insidious and deadly disease. It may sound like a slice out of 14th century, but that’s the reality of AIDS in Africa today. On one side, drug companies defending their right to profit even in the midst of a pandemic. On the other, African governments spending scarce resources on guns – not vaccines. African AIDS victims are caught in the middle and the U.S. and other industrialized nations that have the wealth to solve the problem are on the sidelines.
Is AIDS in Africa a crisis without a cure? A problem too big to solve? Fighting AIDS in Africa. A story of politics, profits and promise.
(Hosted by Alex Beam)
Guests:
Amir Attanan, Researcher at the Harvard Center for International Development
Dr. Richard Laing, Associate Professor in International Health at Boston University
Susan Finston, Assistant Vice President for Intellectual Property at Pharmaceutical Manufacturers of America;
Zackie Achmet, an activist with the Treatment Action Campaign.