The HIV/AIDS Tsunami: Perception Determines Global Response

On 26 December 2004, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia, generating a widespread tsunami. The resulting waves, some up to 15 meters high, reached the heavily populated shores of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and the east coast of Africa, leaving a path of death and destruction in their wake. Because many bodies (including entire families) were swept out to sea, the final death toll may never be known. But it is likely that at least 200,000 people lost their lives on that fateful day. Along with lives lost, the tsunami destroyed countless livelihoods and made millions of people homeless. Soon after the event, in an interview with CNN, UN emergency relief co-coordinator Jan Egeland summarized the situation: "This may be the worst natural disaster in recent history because it is affecting so many heavily populated coastal areas... so many vulnerable communities."

Tsunami impacted areas in orange

The magnitude of the devastation prompted a rapid and massive global response. In order to assess the situation on the ground, politicians toured devastated areas by helicopter. States of emergency were declared in many of the impacted countries. United Nations emergency response teams and humanitarian relief agencies went into crisis mode. International organizations and Governments made pledges to donate millions of dollars of humanitarian aid to help the victims. The Red Cross launched an appeal for money. The International Monetary Fund promised to do whatever was necessary to assist the victims. Australia, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom pledged millions of dollars in aid. Russia promised to send several tons of humanitarian aid to the region. France promised to send medical teams to Sri Lanka and Thailand. Soon thousands of volunteers from all over the world, along with medical and military personnel, were on the ground helping to retrieve bodies and assist with relief efforts.

The global mainstream mass media shifted into high gear, readying itself for total coverage of "the story." Representatives of the mainstream media rushed to disaster sites, covering virtually every possible angle of the tragedy. Soon videos of tsunami waves crashing into popular beach resorts in Thailand were being shown on television. Haunting pictures of the dead wrapped in white cloth or plastic and stacked like cordwood in makeshift morgues hit the front pages of major newspapers and magazines worldwide. Interviews with distraught survivors, overworked coroners, concerned politicians, and people desperately trying to locate lost relatives and friends became a daily media affair. Obligatory maps showing death tolls by country were constructed, constantly updated and given emphasis on the evening news. Some news companies set up websites where people could download images of tsunami waves, find out more about the science of tsunamis, link up with NGOs, make donations, and volunteer to help with relief efforts. Finally, a few months after the event, politicians from the impacted countries met to assess the problem and agreed to construct a tsunami alert system for the Asia-Pacific region. Actions by political leaders coupled with the 24/7 coverage by the media resulted in people from all over the world becoming aware of the tsunami tragedy and the plight of the victims. The tragedy became a "global concern." And with that concern, came a sense of "urgency" to do something about the problem.

During the same year that the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami made global headlines, another type of "tsunami" was killing, not 200,000 people per year, but millions of people per year. The epicenter of this "biological tsunami" was in Africa. The initial "earthquake" took place in the early 1980s. Its destructive "waves" spread out slowly in all directions, taking nearly two decades before reaching the "shores" of virtually every country. Because it moved so slowly-largely hidden from view-there were no exciting pictures of it to show on the daily news. Even though it was destroying millions of lives each year, the global mainstream mass media never rushed in to cover "the story." And politicians were largely silent about the problem. What am I talking about here? I...