At Friday’s close of the 18th biennial meeting of the International Aids Conference in Vienna Austria, its chair, Dr Julio Montaner, pointed out that the pandemic could be better tackled if the relevant authorities would rearrange their priorities.

“When there is a Wall Street emergency or an energy crisis, billions upon billions of dollars are quickly mobilised. People’s health deserve a similar financial response and much higher priority,” he told the conference close.

We find much in his words to draw on, especially within the context of our current struggle with the crime monster as well as the brouhaha over last week’s crumbling of the State of the Emergency.

For even though we may not have billions upon billions of dollars to spend on the crime fight, there are, in addition to the power that is to be found in the new anti-crime legislation, many other resources that we can and must draw upon in this regard.

We have a very promising education sector, which, though not perfect, is nurturing and producing a generation of very bright minds capable of guiding the misguided among us away from crime and other socially harmful phenomena.

There is much to be said for the lucrative job opportunities that are to be found in our agricultural and tourism sectors and which are being capitalised upon by foreigners who for some strange reason are able to see what some of us can’t.

Our local sport industry, as bright and as promising as it is, is also pregnant with untapped potential as far as putting the existing infrastructure to work for the development of young talent is concerned.

Our music industry still has much to recommend it, even though it has been hard done by the culture of violence, drug and gun-running which perpetually haunts it.

These areas of national life present immeasurable opportunities for earning the requisite resources to see the country right.

Then there is, of course, the issue of the use to which we are putting the scarce resources that we actually have.

Given the scandals over many decades which have revealed blatant misuse of precious resources for the benefit of the greedy – many of whom are highly politically connected – is it safe for us to rest assured that we are really, as a nation, speeding along the road to recovery?

Can it really be that the many, many decrepit police stations, schools, health centres and other social facilities that have fallen into a state of disrepair are doomed to remain that way, pending the gratuity of Good Samaritans?

Or is it more likely that these institutions might be better served if those in charge of them checked their priorities?