Overlaid on this has been a general paranoia about being the object of activism. Whilst the industry needed some shaking to wake up to the social phenomena unfolding around it, most companies are now awake, most are alert to the inescapable fact that the community affected by a disease should have a say in the way a company develops medicines and most are listening to the voice of those communities. As with all functional relationships this process of getting to know one another, establishing trust and even making compromises has been a mutual process. The community has learnt about the industry, the way it works and the constraints under which it operates, in addition to the enormity of the scientific challenge at hand. Not only has this helped the industry-community relationship but it has also contributed to the advancement, maturation and specialisation of HIV community action.
Companies provide support to community projects.
Common agendas have been identified and are being pursued through collaborative projects. The Developing Country Initiative within Positive Action is supporting this conference, this newspaper and a range of prevention and care projects in Africa and elsewhere. We must continue to work at our relationships, not only between the industry and the community but with international agencies, governments, the media and a whole range of groups and individuals who shape this epidemic. The rational and effective development of new treatment approaches will also critically depend on effective involvement of people living with HIV and AIDS to help to ensure that the trials are not only ethical and statistically robust but also practical, attractive and useful. Our biggest challenge, however, remains the developing world.