It was a little too lax with that country

Science without the policy has no impact on populations. On the other hand, the policy without the science may be dangerous or become a mere waste of money. "Peter Piot has regained his freedom of speech. After thirteen years UNAIDS, arm of the United Nations to combat HIV, Belgian biologist returned to his first loves: academic research applied to public health in developing countries. He comes to accept the Chair "knowledge against poverty" at the College of France for the year 2010 () and leads an Institute specializing in this discipline at the Imperial College London.

Poker time

Surprising route that Flemish born in Leuven in 1949, co-discoverer of the virus Ebola in Zaire in 1976, artisan in the 1980s first AIDS care programs in the African countries, and then Executive Director of UNAIDS at its creation in 1995. This bourlingueur doctor spent most of his energy to attempt to resolve a seemingly insoluble conundrum: how to treat people living in countries with low income and lack of medical infrastructure "It is by convergence of the political commitment and the science that the best results are obtained," said the Belgian epidemiologist.

His career began in the 1970s by a stroke of poker. Against the advice of his peers, he began in the study of pathogens responsible for communicable diseases. Plagues very present in the southern hemisphere, but virtually eradicated in developed countries. "When I was my medicine, in 1973, it told me that he had no future in this way." At this time, it was thought that the problem of infectious diseases would be definitively resolved by antibiotics and antiviral drugs. "Since then, it was discovered a quarantine of virus, bacteria or parasites", notes Peter Piot.

After Ebola, he turned to a new killer begins to speak of him: HIV. "According to all genetic and epidemiological studies, it is likely that all started by a single person infected by a single virus." AIDS is the dramatic evidence that new microbes continue to appear. "Almost thirty years after the first article published in June 1981 concerning 5 gay white men living in the United States, HIV has become one of the greatest scourges of the history of humanity. But there was nothing to anticipate this development. "This is a classic dilemma in public health." When it detects some cases of a new disease, one wonders whether this was the beginning of an epidemic or if they remain isolated cases.

In 1996, when it discovered that the disease is treatable, AIDS becomes a political problem that ignites the planet by triggering very violent reactions in patients associations. Access to drugs, their price and the suicidal strategy of pharmaceutical laboratories are at the heart of all international meetings where North and South opposed. "It wasn't until 2006 until at least 1 million Africans have access to these treatments," recalls Peter Piot.

The Switzerland after Africa

Mid-1990s, the Belgian doctor leaves the dusty trails of sub-Saharan Africa to reach the shores green and quiet of the Lake of Geneva seat of UNAIDS. Today it is a lucid look at his action in this institution. When asked why South Africa has long been immune to criticism, while Nelson Mandela has remained silent on the AIDS to December 2000, it responds without detour. "This has been my daily puzzle". It was a little too lax with that country. The Global Fund and UNAIDS, we well tried to influence the Government, but political considerations have weighed heavily. Pretoria is the economic engine of Africa and a politico-military very important role on the continent. Western heads of State were not ready to stop me Mbeki President in public on the issue of AIDS. "With the time, Peter Piot eventually accept the diplomatic necessities of official duties. "When the United Nations, it is very easy to denounce and easily win 5 minutes on CNN." In so doing, it loses all credibility and all power to advance.

Today, the fight against AIDS is completed step and to Peter Piot also. "Every day we record 7,000 new infections in the world and 6,000 dead.". In countries such as Botswana and South Africa, 25 of adults are HIV-positive. If we had these figures in Europe, all our health systems collapse. His greatest concern is the sustainability of the funding from rich countries, which could weaken if the crisis dragged. "In the best cases, the volume of financing will remain at the same level and this will already be a success." But HIV is there for a long time. This is why I have launched a program called AIDS 2031. It will be just fifty years after the first discovery of the virus.