HIV/AIDS in Africa: How Should the USA Respond?
- Program Overview
- Panelist Information
- Readings
- Ballot
- Real Video of the Conference
The
Dartmouth College Human Biology Program (Humanitates Vitae) and the Ethics
Institute are planning a second collaborative Student Science Court for
this academic year. This year's Court will be held on Saturday, April
28, 2001 and will feature international, national and local speakers.
As with our previous successful Stem Cell event held in January 2000,
the second Court will center on the student community and focus on interdisciplinary
education involving undergraduate, medical, and graduate students.
Africa is facing an overwhelming medical, social and political burden because of the prevalence of HIV infection. 70% of the world's HIV infected individuals live in Africa and prevalence rates of infection of over 25% are now occurring in several African countries. The epidemic affects all across the population with the highest rates of transmission of the virus in heterosexuals and mother-to-child. All these countries are struggling to cope with the demands of the HIV epidemic with limited health resources and infrastructure. The "success" that the USA has had with the use of powerful anti-HIV drugs will not be easily replicated in Africa.
How should the USA respond to this epidemic? How can our resources and expertise help? What research is needed and how should that be carried out? Will the high cost of anti-retroviral drugs prevent effective treatment? What are the ethical challenges inherent to research and treatment in these countries? What will be the impact on the sociopolitical structures of Africa? Can we help find an African solution, given the vast differences between our health care systems?
Panelists from Africa and the USA will speak about all these topics and at the conclusion of the presentations the audience will have the opportunity to question the panelists. Students then will vote on a series of questions that address the inherent controversies and these results will be announced on the web.
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