H1N1 Virus

In Swaziland a dual epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV is threatening to wipe out entire generations. The country has the highest HIV prevalence in the world among adults, coupled with one of the highest incidence rates of TB. The great majority of TB patients are co-infected with HIV, and TB is the leading cause of mortality among HIV-positive patients.

Emi MacLean, U.S. Director of the Access to Essential Medicines Campaign at MSF, Mit Philips, health and policy analyst at MSF, Dr. Eric Goemaere, medical coordinator for MSF in South Africa and Jimmy Gideyi, a person living with HIV in Nairobi, Kenya, take part in a teleconference on the international community’s retreat from funding HIV/AIDS treatment worldwide.

In this interview, Dr. Fournier describes why a global response to the H1N1 pandemic must in the short term focus not only on vaccination, but on reducing mortality worldwide by emphasizing the identification and treatment of the most severe cases; and argues why access to the vaccine in the future must be based on medical need, not purchasing power of wealthy countries.