The World Made Easy: Episode 2 - Youth Stop Aids (With Georgie Wallis and Alex Causton-Ronaldson)

·42 min·4 clips

Youth Stop AIDS campaigners explain why the HIV/AIDS pandemic is still a critical global issue today.

The episode begins with an introduction to Youth Stop AIDS, a movement founded in 2003 to campaign for a world without AIDS. Guests Georgie Wallis and Alex Causton-Ronaldson explain that HIV/AIDS is often misperceived as a crisis of the 1970s and 1980s, but it remains a critical issue today. Alex, who is HIV positive, describes having an undetectable viral load due to treatment access in the UK, contrasting this with the lack of access in countries like Malawi, where AIDS is the second biggest killer of young people. They discuss the UK's tombstone campaign from the 1980s as the only major government HIV/AIDS awareness effort, leading to persistent misconceptions. Youth Stop AIDS's It Ain't Over campaign focuses on reprioritizing HIV to meet the Sustainable Development Goal of ending AIDS by 2030, with aims of zero AIDS-related deaths, zero new infections, and zero stigma. Concerns are raised about the merger of the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), potentially sidelining HIV/AIDS funding. The conversation turns to pharmaceutical patents under TRIPS agreements, which allow companies to monopolize drugs for 20 years, driving up prices. Examples include Truvada costing £400 per month versus generic versions at £10. Alex notes that pharmaceutical companies are more likely to research male pattern baldness than HIV medication for children due to profitability. They argue that if HIV/AIDS had affected rich middle-class white people like COVID-19, a cure would have been found. The Missing Medicines campaign lobbies for better drug access, with stunts like a blow-up pool party outside a pharmaceutical company. Stigma is addressed, including misconceptions that HIV can be transmitted via toilet seats, which hinders testing and treatment, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Alex shares his journey from being diagnosed in 2014 and facing rejection to living openly in Norwich, emphasizing the importance of conversations to normalize HIV. The episode concludes with a call to action, encouraging listeners to join Youth Stop AIDS through university groups or online networks, with the goal of eradicating HIV by 2030 through sustained funding and activism.

As heard by us

Young campaigners bring the unfinished politics of HIV/AIDS into focus.

SOAS Radio's The World Made Easy keeps HIV/AIDS in the present tense, asking why a pandemic so often filed away as a 1970s and 1980s story still demands attention now.

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Why you'd press play

You want the HIV/AIDS crisis pulled out of the past tense, with young campaigners asking who gets helped, who gets ignored, and why.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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