Prevention, education key to winning war against HIV

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Matthew Bates
  • Air Force Print News
SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) --  In the military's fight against HIV/AIDS, prevention is the key to winning the battle, said Dr. Judith Delmar, a staff physician with the Air Force's HIV program at Wilford Hall Medical Center.

Speaking at the sixth annual international HIV/AIDS Strategic Planning and Policy Development course, the doctor said it is only through education and awareness that prevention will be possible.

"At any given time we have anywhere from 120 to 150 individuals who are diagnosed with HIV in the Air Force," Doctor Delmar said.

This fact shows a need for the Air Force to develop a strategy for educating Airmen on proper prevention and awareness of the disease, she added. Keeping Airmen safe and mission capable is the ultimate goal.

"We have policies and training in place already, but the fact that Airmen are still being infected tells us that we need to do more ... we need to educate our Airmen better," Doctor Delmar said.

Still, the military does have a lower infection rate than that of the civilian population and the majority of Airmen infected acquire the disease while deployed or TDY to areas around the world.

"Is what we're doing working? Yes. But can we do better? Of course," the doctor said.

However, the U.S. military is not alone in this fight. From Africa to the Pacific to South America, the militaries of many other countries are also waging this war. And, in some cases, they are losing.

"In the U.S. we are lucky because we have the resources and the money to launch education campaigns and find new treatments for AIDS," said Doctor Delmar. "But in many countries, these resources either do not exist or are very limited."

A fact Brig. Gen. Marietjie Swanpoel is all too familiar with. She is the first HIV/AIDS program manager for the South African Defense Forces, a job that was created only four months ago.

"We have so much to learn and we need help from other nations, such as the United States," she said. "South Africa, and other developing nations, simply does not have the ability to fight this disease on its own."

This is one reason this conferences is so important, the general added. It not only allows the world to come together and discuss the global problem AIDS poses, but it affords each nation the opportunity to share their issues and experiences in dealing with the disease.

"We are all in the same position," General Swanpoel said. "Every country has AIDS, so it is important the world tries to solve this problem together."

A fact Doctor Delmar agrees with.

"Learning from each other is a key to stopping this global epidemic," she said.