Podcast 118 – Prince Harry urges us to draw from lessons learned in the HIV/AIDS pandemic when dealing with COVID-19.

On what is World AIDS Day 2021,  in his role as the Founding Patron of the African non-profit Sentebale,  https://sentebale.org/ Prince Harry wrote to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and to the Executive Director of UNAIDS program, firstly to thank the scientific community for their tireless work in the treatment of AIDS and secondly,  urging for fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

In his letter, Prince Harry wrote that 40 years on his mother would have been deeply grateful for all the good work that has been accomplished in dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. However, Harry also spoke in despair that lessons from AIDS have not been learned,  saying that the same issues regarding inequitable access to AIDS treatments are now being seen when it comes to COVID-19 - with Harry saying the risk of repeating the same mistakes when it comes to sharing COVID treatments is 'destructive and self-defeating.'

Prince Harry wrote that in not meeting the UN targets for vaccinating everyone in the World, the predictions made by the scientific community foreseeing the emergence of new variants, are going to happen, with Harry seeing the new Omicron variety of COVID as an example of this.

Carrying on work started by his mother Princess Diana, Prince Harry has being promoted AIDS testing and working with AIDS and HIV non-profits for a long time. He notes how the world's leading AIDS activists are also leading the call for COVID-19 vaccine equity, with Harry saying that 'vaccinating the world is a test of our moral character' something which the world is failing at right now.

For World Aids Day 2021, Prince Harry also partly narrated a short video put together by the UNAIDS program in which Harry and the executive director of the program speak of the world fighting a killer virus and not for the first time. They draw parallels between COVID and HIV with some sobering statistics.

What will be viewed as controversial comments Harry notes how scientific breakthroughs for both viruses have helped some but not all to carry on living, and how what Harry called corporate greed and political failures have prolonged both pandemics. 

The video, which includes some footage of Princess Diana meeting with HIV/AIDS patients, goes on to contrast the vast profits being made by pharmaceutical companies with the poor, saying that the poor are once again being left behind. 

Harry reiterated points he has made before in asking for pharmaceutical companies to break their monopolies,  and to share the know how,  to allow poorer countries to produce their own vaccines.

To the politicians, the video speaks to this being a critical moment in time when some will find themselves either on the right side or the wrong side of history. It is acknowledged that some leaders are listening,  but not much is being done.

World AIDS Day has existed since 1988 as an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease.

World AIDS Day is also one of the eleven official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili.  Reach out to me through my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/ and on twitter https://twitter.com/JeanetteSongolo

Show written and produced by Jeanette Songolo.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili and in the meantime watch out for other posts on all things Sussex on my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/