AIDS ‘Fatigue’ May Cause Lack of Funds, Former UNAIDS Head Says

Success in stemming HIV infections caused “fatigue” toward combating the virus and may result in reduced funding for treatment and prevention, said the former executive director of the United Nations’ AIDS program.

“There is clearly AIDS fatigue,” Peter Piot, who became director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in September, said in a Nov. 25 interview in London. “Things go by fashion. There’s a paradox that when there’s results, often political leaders think, ‘OK, great, declare victory, we can move to the next problem,’ because there are so many problems. That would be really frightening, with bad consequences.”