Groups Discuss How to Help Africans Suffering from Famine and AIDS

Fifteen American humanitarian groups met with a UN envoy on Tuesday in Baltimore to urge governments, citizens' groups and private citizens to help Africans plagued by famine and AIDS. If food shipments are not increased in the coming months, millions of Africans will face conditions similar to the Ethiopian famine of the mid-1980s, the international relief organizations said.

The relief groups, which include the American Red Cross, Save the Children and Catholic Relief Services, said more than 34 million people in sub-Saharan Africa face death by starvation in the next six to eight months. "The magnitude of the disaster unfolding in Africa has not yet been fully grasped by the international community," said James Morris, executive director of the World Food Program and UN Special Envoy for the Humanitarian Crisis in southern Africa. "An exceptional effort is urgently needed if a major catastrophe is to be averted. Business as usual will not do."

Twenty-five African countries are facing serious food shortages, with Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Eritrea in particular danger, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

The 15 American relief agencies, known together as the Coalition for Food Aid, said the effects of this famine will be even worse than the famine of 20 years ago because starvation in African nations is now compounded by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Malnutrition accelerates the onset of AIDS, and those infected with the disease need 30-50 percent more calories than others.

Officials issued "The Baltimore Declaration" in which they asked governments and humanitarian groups to "recognize the enormity of the crisis confronting Africa and to join in a massive and urgent response." Andrew Natsios, who heads the US Agency for International Development, said the Bush administration agreed to boost spending by $335 million to help alleviate hunger in developing countries. Congress has not yet approved the increase.

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