Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Africa may not be a part of Europe, but a top military physician with the U.S. European Command (EUCOM), headquartered in Germany, says African militaries have a staunch partner in his command in their battle against HIV/AIDS.

At a February 11 panel on Capitol Hill, Colonel Edward Huycke, EUCOM's command surgeon and physician in charge of AIDS programs with foreign militaries, raised the question, "Why does EUCOM care about AIDS in Africa?"

The military doctor answered: "Because there is an incredible increase of [AIDS] infection in sub-Saharan Africa. The present and future impact -- societal, political, economic and military -- -- is truly vast -- and staggering. The potential for societal breakdown -- the loss of judges, doctors, lawyers, legislators, parents, schoolteachers" -- is drastically increased because of the health threat posed by the pandemic.

The health of African armies is particularly important, he added, because increasingly the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) looks to them to man peacekeeping operations on the continent as well as guard against terrorist incursions.

Huycke spoke the day after a special AIDS task force sponsored by the International Crisis Group (ICG) and the Center for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS) -- both independent think tanks -- met to discuss U.S. military-to-military AIDS programs.

The EUCOM physician was joined by officials from the DOD HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP), which plans and administers many of EUCOM's AIDS efforts, and the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (USMHRP), as well as ICG and CSIS policy analysts.

For more than 30 years, the U.S. military has developed health partnerships worth millions of dollars with countries like Kenya and Thailand. Altogether, the Pentagon has partnered health programs in 41 nations, 29 in Africa. Those programs are now chiefly administered through DHAPP.

In addition, USMHRP is working on AIDS vaccine projects in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health and has asked Congress for $50-$60 million to operate long-term AIDS programs in partnership with a number of foreign militaries, including those in Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania.

In 2001, EUCOM began an AIDS partnership with the Ethiopian armed forces that proved effective and has become a model for other DOD efforts, according to the EUCOM Web site. Working in conjunction with Johns Hopkins University to reduce the infection rate among Ethiopia's 250,000 troops, DHAPP began a multimillion-dollar program of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) training, increased condom use by troops, and training for health care workers.

After four years, EUCOM reported that most of its goals in Ethiopia had been met, including the training of 6,554 troops, with more than 25,000 attending AIDS awareness and prevention seminars; the screening of 2,969 troops for HIV by 100 trained VCT counselors; and the opening of three VCT centers at Ethiopian military hospitals.

Kathy Ward, a policy analyst with ICG, echoed Dr. Huycke's concerns, noting that with more than 22 million soldiers in armed forces around the world at risk to the virus, the "DOD sees a particular security interest in pursuing HIV/AIDS prevention activities with foreign militaries because the spread of HIV is a major destabilizing factor in developing societies, leaving them vulnerable to unrest or infiltration by terrorist elements."

DOD concern is also appropriate, Ward explained, because it "comes at a time when the United States hopes to increasingly use African and other regional forces to provide significant contingents for operations to reduce pressure on overextended U.S. forces" battling the global war on terror.

AIDS programs, in general, "support U.S. security interests by contributing to the good health and readiness of international defense forces for pursuing common objectives," she stressed.

EUCOM is one of several large U.S. military regional commands. It is based in Germany and is responsible for military-to-military programs in 91 nations in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Over the years, these regional commands have been given greater responsibility by the U.S. government to create and monitor bilateral programs ranging from military training and border control to health projects that bear on international security.

Africa's need for help on the AIDS front was driven home recently by South African Defense Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, who revealed that between 17 and 23 percent of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) may be infected by the HIV/AIDS virus, according to the iafrica.com news Web site.

Lekota acknowledged that recruits are tested for AIDS to judge their suitability to enter SANDF. But once they are accepted, AIDS testing is no longer mandatory unless they are deployed outside the country. "We encourage members of the SANDF to go for voluntary testing but can't compel them once they are already in," he told journalists.