Half of Hospital Beds in Democratic Republic of Congo Taken by AIDS Sufferers: UN

Half of hospital beds in the Democratic Republic of Congo are occupied by people with HIV/AIDS, the UN secretary-general's special representative to the country said Dec. 1. "It will take years to measure the exact impact of AIDS in the DRC, but 50 percent of the beds in hospitals are occupied by people suffering from the disease," said William Lacey Swing. Efforts to fight HIV/AIDS have been hampered by nearly five years of civil war, which broke out in 1998, and drew in half a dozen other African countries at its height. Swing said the UN mission is using the press and broadcast media, particularly the popular Radio Okapi, to increase HIV/AIDS awareness. The mission will also target the public by disseminating pamphlets through nongovernmental organizations and by publishing articles on AIDS in local publications, said Mathy Mupapa, a UN communications officer.

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