AIDS . . . PLEAS AT THE WORLD SUMMIT

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U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, launching an international summit on AIDS in Paris, declared a "planetary emergency" and said all countries should "act without delays" to stop the epidemic. The subtext of his speech -- and of the World AIDS Day conference -- was that AIDS research dollars and supplies should be diverted to poorer countries where the largest number of AIDS sufferers reside. (More than 90 percent of AIDS funding winds up in wealthy nations, which have only 8 percent of the victims, the U.N. estimates.) The response: representatives of 42 nations signed a declaration aiming to improve access to health care, jobs, education and housing for AIDS patients. Meanwhile, some AIDS activists at the conference vociferously claimed that discrimination against gays has hastened the spread of the disease.Post your opinion on theHealth & Medecinebulletin board.