Your editorials are often balanced, perceptive and intellectually stimulating. That is why I read these capsules of wisdom daily without fail.
Your editorial of August 23, on fighting malaria did not differ from your enlightened tradition. You correctly pointed out that the fight against malaria is being lost, because it is perceived as yet another tropical disease mostly affecting poor people. The international community is largely shying away from much-needed research and vaccine development into prevention and control of malaria.
However, I am disturbed by your observation on the alleged lavish attention enjoyed by another killer disease HIV/AIDS. Your comparison of AIDS and malaria is based on wrong assumptions, which are counterproductive to our fight against both malaria and AIDS. We have to fight against several infections to maintain our health and well-being. Such a fight is based on several factors. Resource allocation for these efforts is based on very many considerations. Historical factors, overall perceptions of severity of infection and economic consequences of infection are some of the factors. In such a situation each case should be presented for its own merits rather than presenting it in relative importance with one infection pitted against another.
Comparing malaria and AIDS is almost like comparing an apple and a bowl of noodles. Unlike many other infections, AIDS is a life-long infection. It is best described as a syndrome - a collection of infections, not a single infection. An effective vaccine for AIDS has yet to be found.
The perception of allegedly lavish attention being paid to AIDS may be due to the fact that it is a new infection and has managed to catch the attention of curious researchers.
Today we are aware that even allegedly high profile infections such as AIDS are not guaranteed optimum treatment due to the reluctance of pharmaceutical companies to market some of their medicines in 'small markets' like Hong Kong.
Even an affluent society like Hong Kong is deprived of technological advances in the area of AIDS prophylaxis and diagnosis like home-based HIV test facilities.
