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CNN Live At Daybreak

Interview with Dr. Bob Wallace

Aired July 04, 2002 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The new director for the Centers for Disease Control is giving high priority to the global fight against AIDS.

And joining me now to talk about the fight against AIDS is Dr. Bob Wallace with Gilead Sciences.

He leaves tonight for the World AIDS Conference in Spain.

And tell us why you're going there?

DR. BOB WALLACE, GILEAD SCIENCES: Well, Carol, this is the 14th international conference on AIDS and there are generally about 10,000 to 15,000 participants. It's a good opportunity to get the latest science, what's going on in research, what's going on on the political front and certainly looking at the cultural differences and what we may be able to do to help other cultures.

COSTELLO: And HIV and AIDS seems to be getting really out of control in places like South Africa...

WALLACE: And many other...

COSTELLO: Or in Africa, the whole continent, I should say.

WALLACE: In many of the developing countries -- the Caribbean, in certain areas of South America, India...

COSTELLO: China.

WALLACE: And there were discussions about Pakistan. Right. It's happening everywhere. We in this country have done a reasonable job in trying to help control the epidemic, but we still could do a lot better.

COSTELLO: Seventy million people will die from AIDS if the disease is not gotten into control in places like China and Pakistan and Africa. Are we doing enough to do then?

WALLACE: It's difficult to deliver the medications that are needed in these developing countries. It's difficult because this disease is not an easy disease to treat. We have to keep up with newer forms of mutated virus trying to treat resistant virus. Getting the medications delivered to developing countries has been very, very difficult.

COSTELLO: The other big problem is education, because people in underdeveloped countries just don't know about how you even get AIDS.

WALLACE: And not only that, but certainly treating it and taking care of it, you're right, the education process is difficult. Do women have choices in their sexual partners and what they have to, or how they have to participate? If you really think about it, when we look at treatment, someone has said if a cure for AIDS was a drink of clean water, over a third of the world would not have access to it.

COSTELLO: Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill went over to Africa with Bono to see the situation firsthand and he came back and asked President Bush for money and President Bush is putting up $500 million in aid for Africa, for babies born with HIV. Is that enough?

WALLACE: It's difficult. The belief is that it would take at least a billion dollars a year to treat the people in Africa and give them the care that they needed to continue keeping the HIV under control. So $500 million is not a lot. I think one of the biggest groups that's done a major and had a major impact is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who committed over $400 million to the treatment of AIDS in developing countries.

COSTELLO: So how do countries like Africa convince the richer countries to help them more? I mean what do they do? Does this conference help things?

WALLACE: This conference will help. This conference will have about 15,000 attendees. This is the 14th international conference on AIDS. It will be in Barcelona from July 7 to July 12. We continue to work on trying to get awareness raised around the world, and that's part of what's here. There will be a lot of requests and a lot of education efforts going on in this next week.

COSTELLO: You know, I read an article in the paper yesterday -- and I don't know if you read it -- but there is a new strain of AIDS out there that may hit the United States, too.

WALLACE: Well, the virus is very, it's a variable virus. There are multiple strains of this virus. There are different genotypes of this virus, different strains in different countries. And there's always been a question of how it may cross cultural or cross boundaries and cross country boundaries. We've seen different strains within this country, different clades. For example, clade B is the most common type in the United States.

But we're now seeing non-clade B virus in the United States. So there will be times that this virus is going to continue to try to escape us.

COSTELLO: Yes, and I think Americans have to understand that if it's over there, it's going to come over here.

WALLACE: It very well is over here.

COSTELLO: Got you. thank you, Dr. Bob Wallace.

WALLACE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Joining us live this morning, we thank you.

WALLACE: Thank you.

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