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Elton delivered keynote at 2009 BIO International Convention
Wednesday, May 20 2009 |
Elton John might have been wearing rose-tinted glasses, but his keynote speech at the 2009 BIO International Convention in Atlanta on May 19, 2009 was anything but rosy.
 Despite medical advances, Elton told the hundreds of biosciences executives lunching on steak salad and key lime pie, that HIV/AIDS "is still winning."
“It continues to devastate populations in the developing world,” Elton said. “But the epidemic is also worse than we thought in this very city and in this very country -- the richest and most powerful on the earth.”
Elton implored the assembled executives to not just fight the disease with science, but also help change perceptions and public policy. Fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Elton said, must be done not just with miracle vaccines, but by fighting stigma and breaking down barriers.“There are long standing stereotypes and prejudices that inhibit our efforts to combat AIDS,” he said.
Since 1992, the Elton John Aids Foundation (EJAF) has raised $150 million toward fighting and preventing the HIV/AIDS epidemic. EJAF is the largest AIDS foundation in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in the United States.
“We are not endowed like the Ford Foundation or the Gates Foundation,” Elton said, adding that every dollar spent is raised privately. “We are the David of non-profits, fighting the Goliath of diseases.”
Elton said he launched EJAF, partly out of guilt. “I needed to face the reality that during the 1980s I should have been on the frontlines," said Elton, who has lost 60 friends to the disease. "I should have spoken out, I should have done more. And I did not."
In his speech, Elton took world governments and the medical industry to task for not doing enough to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. “We are in the third decade of this epidemic,” Elton said, “and shockingly the American public health establishment isn't resourced enough to fully deploy the testing, treatment and technologies that are proven to save lives.”
While HIV/AIDS has fallen off the radar of many Americans and governments, Elton suggested the disease is far from beaten. He noted some statistics to support his point:
- More than 1 million Americans, today, are living with HIV and more than 500,000 lack the necessary treatment to survive, John said. About a third of new AIDS cases are among people under the age of 30.
- AIDS is one of the leading causes of death among young black women and prevalence rates among middle-aged black men in Manhattan equals those in sub-Saharan Africa.
- About 41 percent of HIV-positive Americans live in the South. Yet, fewer than half of those are on treatment.
To help make a dent in those stats, Elton said, his foundation is funding education and advocacy programs. The organization is also funding needle exchange programs and AIDS education for students. But the David of non-profits cannot alone take down AIDS Goliath.
“All of us must confront the reality of the AIDS epidemic,” Elton implored the audience. “You are uniquely positioned to lead the way in shaping how this disease is perceived and addressed.”
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