The US is by far the biggest contributor to the anti-Aids campaign, in terms of financing, but there are seeming differences of opinion between the US and the UN on the question of how much say the former should have in matters of fund utilisation. And the threat of US disassociation from the global HIV/Aids fund looms. This would be a catastrophe for the resolution of the crisis, which would be best served by a cooperative approach, and the world needs US leadership in this matter.

In addition to this, the principal problem right now is the battle over access to anti-retro-viral drugs. The situation as it stands is that millions of HIV positive men, women, and children in Africa and Asia cannot afford the expensive drugs produced by the Western pharmaceutical companies and these companies are reluctant to lower their prices sufficiently for the third world or to allow third world companies to manufacture their own versions. This tussle over intellectual property rights must be resolved in favour of the third world consumers who need the drugs to stay alive.

In Bangladesh, thankfully, the prevalence of HIV and Aids is still quite low, though there can be little doubt that the official figure of less than 400 does not fully reflect the scale of the problem. Much money has been spent to educate vulnerable groups and to build awareness about the dangers and how to minimise the risk of infection, but these programmes have a long way to go. One notable failure of the programmes has been the failure to educate hospital and medical personnel so that the sufferers are not stigmatised or shunned when they seek treatment.

It is good news that the governments of the world as well as the Bangladesh government are now focusing on the crisis. However, there is still a long way to go before we can claim to see light at the end of the tunnel.