On the 17th September, UNAIDS will begin interviewing candidates for the vacant position of Executive Director, caused by the resignation of Peter Piot.
Roger England, a noted health policy expert and chair of the Health Systems Workshop is throwing his hat into the ring - on the platform of shutting it down.
Roger created quite a stir back in May, when he forcefully argued in the British Medical Journal that UNAIDS should be disbanded. Many of the shriller responses to his piece from various members of the AIDS lobby confirmed his suggestion that, in the AIDS industry, "we have created a monster with too many vested interests and
reputations at stake, too many single issue NGOs, too many relatively well paid HIV staff in affected
countries, and too many rock stars with AIDS support as a fashion accessory.
We at the CFD agree with his argument that the advocacy of UNAIDS for a single disease is distorting health aid and is resulting in two-tier health systems. Worse, it may be doing real damage to general healthcare by sucking away all the best staff and equipment.
As Roger says, "time is up for UNAIDS. Why do we have a UN agency for HIV and not for pneumonia or diabetes, each of which kills more people?"
Why indeed.
Good luck Roger, we hope your application for the post will help bring donors to their senses.
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