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African governments could face upheaval if they give preference to the elite when it comes to HIV/AIDS treatment, UNAIDS executive director, Peter Piot, has warned.
Piot said in a recent statement that without ethical guidelines, doctors would have to choose between who would live and who would die when big quantities of antiretroviral drugs finally arrived in their countries.
UNAIDS urged countries several years ago to set up ethics panels to determine who should be treated first when the drugs finally came on stream.
Research shows that of the estimated 75,000 Africans who currently have access to antiretrovirals, most are "men in power or men with money."
"I really think that this issue of access to treatment in countries where 30 to 40 percent of adults are living with HIV/AIDS is going to be one of the major political issues," Piot added.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
