Let's use our tools creatively

doi:10.1136/bmj.a159

BMJ 2008;336:1206 (31 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.a159

Letters

Writing on the wall for UNAIDS

Let’s use our tools creatively

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Smallpox eradication proves that global effort on a single diseasecan work. Vaccine was crucial but another missing piece forHIV is reliance on a routine response to an exceptional pandemic.¹This could be fixed in two ways.

Nation to nation partnering—HIV aid too often addressesthe priorities of donors and global agencies rather than recipientcountries, leading to an overlapping, uncoordinated patchworkof initiatives. With no single plan or lead donor, the impactof aid is compromised, and no one accepts responsibility. Letus try partnering individual high and low income nations, perhapswith a middle income country as a third team member, to developa single plan with a clear role for all external aid. Successcould be better monitored and team members would feel a responsibilityto succeed.

Centripetal programming—In Vietnam our most successfuland sustainable STI/HIV clinics and outreach programmes arelocated furthest from . . . [Full text of this article]

Michael L Rekart, director

¹ STI/HIV Prevention and Control, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, 655 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada V5Z 4R4

michael.rekart@bccdc.ca