HIV priest challenges EU to fight pandemic

Date: 22/05/03

By David Cronin

AN AFRICAN priest, believed to be the first clergyman in the continent to publicly admit he is HIV positive, has urged EU policymakers to show greater leadership against the AIDS pandemic ravaging poor countries.

Canon Gideon Byamugisha believes historians will struggle to explain why politicians did not show greater resolve in ensuring that the right treatment is available to those living with the disease.

"This question will never go away. People looking into the archives will ask 'who was president then, which commissioners were in the EU'?"

The Anglican priest caused shock waves in his native Uganda in 1992 when he told his congregation that he had contracted HIV, the virus which causes AIDS.

He was in Brussels this week to meet MEPs, as well as Lieve Fransen, the Belgian doctor leading the European Commission's efforts to improve health in developing countries.

Byamugisha does not know for certain whether he was infected through sex or from a blood transfusion (the blood donor's wife had died from AIDS).

Unlike the Roman Catholic church, anglicans are not required to remain celibate and are free to wed. Byamugisha admits he did not have an HIV test before his marriage in 1987.

Although he almost died in 1998, he has now exceeded Uganda's average life expectancy of 42. Financial support from friends and his bishop have helped him meet the cost of his treatment bills, which can be more than €150 per month.

"I am one of the lucky few," he said, stating that such costs are beyond the reach of most of Uganda's two million AIDS victims.

This week, EU development ministers discussed a proposal to provide €351 million for the fight against the three major 'poverty diseases' - AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The financing scheme is due to be formally adopted by governments on 17-18 June.

World Vision, the charity which Byamugisha represents, has welcomed this funding, but argues that far more money is needed if the Union is to help reverse the growing trend of infections.

"The EU is a world leader. At any level, leaders have a moral responsibility to take risks and warn people against complacency," Byamugisha said.

The canon recalled a speech by Bill Clinton, in which the former US president noted that estimates by the UN for the funding needed to combat AIDS were no greater than the White House's stationery costs.

"This makes me wonder where the problem is," added Byamugisha. "The question is not the money. The world has the money. But why can't the money be mobilized?"

He voiced optimism that the World Trade Organization will be able to reach a deal in the coming months on amending intellectual property laws. A favourable resolution would allow cheap generic drugs to be made available to AIDS patients. But Byamugisha said such a breakthrough must form part of a multi-pronged attack on the disease.

Despite cultural resistance to wearing condoms in Africa, the canon argues that their use must be promoted to prevent AIDS. Yet he also feels that the underlying causes of poverty and marginalization affecting much of his continent will also have to be tackled for the battle against AIDS to be won.

"Medicines, if taken on an empty stomach, may not work a lot. We must fight AIDS on all fronts," Byamugisha added.