Poor political will hampers AIDS battle

A recent symposium has highlighted the lack of urgent action and negative attitudes as the main obstacles in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa. The Southern Africa Symposium on HIV/AIDS and Poverty also examined recent trends in the epidemic, critical gaps in the response and proposed partnerships for action in relation to poverty. The international NGO, ActionAid, called for strengthened commitment from regional governments to tackle the pandemic. South Africa's government news agency, BuaNews, quoted the ActionAid HIV/AIDS coordinator, Jacqueline Bataringaya, as saying: "While HIV/AIDS has been recognised as a crisis in the Southern African region, there is still no meaningful show of urgency ... HIV needs to be made an issue of governance, where those leaders who do not act sufficiently to improve the situation are held accountable."