By international standards, the HIV infection rate in Sweden is low, but it is increasingly reflecting the rate for the pandemic as a whole, due to the country’s more extensive international contacts in recent years.
In Sweden, laboratories and clinics collaborate closely. Photo: Hans Bjurling / www.imagebank.sweden.se
About a third of the Swedish residents with HIV contracted the disease abroad. Yet of all people found to be HIV-positive in Sweden, the largest group comprises those infected before they arrived in the country. Clearly, international collaboration and research across national borders is crucial if we are to win the global fight against HIV/AIDS.
As part of the global effort, Stockholm is hosting a major workshop on HIV/AIDS prevention on June 4-5, the second in a series organized by the Asia-Europe Meeting, ASEM. Targeting both Asian and European policymakers, the seminar will focus on the importance of international cooperation in confronting the epidemic.
A vital investment
Under Sweden’s Communicable Diseases Act, HIV patients have to undergo regular medical checks and are required to inform any sex partners they may have of their infection. This is not always a matter of course elsewhere in the world. Clinics in Sweden also use infection tracing, where they try to identify the person who infected the patient to help stop the disease from spreading further.
Anders Sönnerborg sees HIV/AIDS research as vital if we are to protect the social fabric around the world and prevent global instability. Photo: Private
Professor Anders Sönnerborg of the Karolinska University Hospital says: “We’ve been accused of adopting a repressive stance, but then again we have the HIV epidemic reasonably well under control in Sweden and we’re getting good results in terms of treatment.”
“The death rate among untreated HIV patients is almost 100 percent. Globally, HIV/AIDS is about huge numbers of people dying in the biggest pandemic for centuries,” Sönnerborg adds.
Sönnerborg also points out that investment in HIV/AIDS research is absolutely vital, not only from a humanistic and compassionate viewpoint, but also because it is ultimately about what the world will look like in the future. In areas of Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe, the HIV virus is spreading almost out of control. “In some countries, when such large sections of the population die, the entire social fabric is destroyed. This may cause general instability on a worldwide basis.”
Spin-off benefits
Anders Sönnerborg also notes that HIV research has produced much data of benefit to other medical fields. “For instance, we now have information about the human defense system that we never had access to before. Basic scientific research, too, relating to HIV has clearly had numerous, highly valuable spin-off effects.”
While the HIV virus has frustrated researchers struggling to find an effective vaccine, scientific research on HIV has produced several valuable spin-off effects. Photo: Kjell-Olof Hedlund / Smittskyddsinstitutets pressarkiv
A distinguishing feature of Swedish scientific work in the HIV field is what is termed translational research, i.e. work involving close collaboration between the clinic treating the patient and the laboratory. The aim is to move from observed needs to molecular insight, which is then fed back in the form of treatment of various kinds. Thus the laboratories conduct research that is closely connected with the clinical issues.
Beside vaccine research – the hitherto fruitless attempts to find a vaccine against HIV – Sweden also engages in resistance research, or solving the problem of the HIV virus becoming gradually more resistant to the drugs a patient takes.
Sweden is also involved in an international e-health (electronic health) program for the development of a database containing tens of thousands of identified patients and viral sequences. The aim is to enable doctors with HIV patients to use this gigantic store of information to arrive at viable methods of treatment or therapy, wherever they may be based in the world.
Preventive research
The spread of HIV is increasing not only in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe, but also in Western Europe, although at a slower rate. A couple of decades ago, AIDS and HIV were widely discussed in the media. Today, there is much less coverage. Young people in the new generation do not necessarily understand the risks associated with unprotected sex.
Viveca Urwitz of the National Board of Health and Welfare would like to see more emphasis on preventive research in Sweden. Photo: Gudrun Renberg
Viveca Urwitz, head of the unit for HIV prevention and control at the National Board of Health and Welfare, is currently working with this problem. She would like to see greater emphasis on preventive research both in Sweden and in Europe:
“Here, we focus mainly on medical research and drug manufacturing,” she says. “Preventive research, by which I mean research into effective prevention methods, is mainly being pursued in the United States and Africa. As this kind of research is very much determined by cultural factors, it is most unfortunate that we in Europe are lagging behind.”
Urwitz says that in many countries sexuality and drug abuse are sensitive matters and seldom discussed, but that Sweden has long dared to raise such issues openly. “You easily become a prisoner of your own cultural perceptions, so it’s useful to find out what others are doing. That’s why a workshop like this benefits all concerned.”
Facts:
- Up until 2006, Sweden had registered some 7,500 cases of HIV infection. About 4,000 of these infected people are still alive today.
- In 2006, a total of 390 new HIV cases were reported in Sweden.
- Swedish HIV research is primarily funded by the EU, Sida and the Swedish Research Council, but also receives funding from NGOs such as the Swedish Physicians Against AIDS Research Foundation and the Noah’s Ark–Red Cross Foundation.
- There are about 40 million HIV carriers worldwide. 70 percent live in Africa.
To offer help as a private individual, contact any of the following:
Related links
www.aseminfoboard.org - ASEM InfoBoard
www.karolinska.se - Karolinska University Hospital
www.socialstyrelsen.se - Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare
www.smittskyddsinstitutet.se - Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control
Related publications
Swedish nanotechnology may revolutionize medicine - Article
Swedes take a shot at the flu - Article
Swedish health care – Fact sheet
Standing up for HIV prevention - ASEM publication
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Charlotte Celsing (M.A.) is a freelance journalist who has lived and worked in Indonesia, Fiji and Australia. She currently writes for the daily press and monthly publications, and recently published her first book.
The author alone is responsible for the opinions expressed in this article.
Translation: Stephen Croall
Classification: A198EN
© Photo 1: Hans Bjurling / www.imagebank.sweden.se
© Photo 2: Private
© Photos 3 and 4: Kjell-Olof Hedlund / Smittskyddsinstitutets pressarkiv
© Photo 5: Gudrun Renberg
Copyright:
Published by the Swedish Institute on www.sweden.se. All content is protected by Swedish copyright law. The text may be reproduced, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast in any media for non-commercial use with reference to www.sweden.se. However, no photographs or illustrations may be used. For more information on general copyright and permission click here. If you have any questions please contact webmaster.