Posted 7/13/2004 04:54:00 PM by Douglas

When it comes to assessing the threat of AIDS around the globe, it important to first ask, what does Richard Gere think?

"A vicious terrorist is out there. It is not Osama bin Laden, it is AIDS," Hollywood actor Richard Gere told the conference. "The biggest threat to our livelihood, our happiness is AIDS."

Thanks, Dick, but why don't you leave the global pandemics to the experts, and stick to things you know about. Has anyone seen my gerbil? I digress.

The World Health Organization's AIDS Conference met in Bangkok "for the love of God use a condom" Thailand, to discuss the real source of Africa's AIDS nightmare: United States drug companies.

Some developing countries such as Thailand, India and Brazil are making cheap generic drugs but not enough to reach everybody. Some 38 million people are infected with HIV, mostly in poor countries: 25 million in sub-Saharan Africa and 7.2 million in Asia.

French officials accused the United States of pressuring poor countries to relinquish rights to make the generic drugs in return for free-trade agreements. In a written statement to the conference, President Jacques Chirac called that tactic "tantamount to blackmail."

Hold the phone, Frenchie, the US and Europe are responsible for treating everyone in the world with free antiretroviral drugs? Lack of mediation didn't give these people AIDS, so why should private European and US companies be forced to give up their patented drug rights to the rest of the world? When Jacques Chirac read Atlas Shrugged, I bet he thought it was hilarious. But you can't have an event like this without celebrities, can you? Que the protestors!

A group of African protesters interrupted a French minister delivering Chirac's message to demand more AIDS funding from developed G-8 countries.

"Shame! Shame!" they chanted in harmony for nearly a minute. Activists at the venue also have splashed red paint on posters of the G-8 leaders.

Gere is among several celebrities -- also including actress Ashley Judd and senior African statesman Nelson Mandela -- at the 15th conference, which draws a mix of science and activism.

Ah yes, a healthy mix of the over-exposed and the ignorant. The fact that this event even allows Hollywood to have a voice in the matter shows how ridiculously insincere they are about actually trying to solve this problem. Does anyone in sub-Saharan Africa even know who Richard Gere is? Does anyone else actually care about his opinion?

The longer we give a voice to those that think that AIDS is spread by lack of funding, the longer the line is going to be at the African orphanage.