AIDS Threatens African Governments: Study

A new study finds AIDS is decimating southern Africa's political ranks, jeopardizing the ability of governments there to operate effectively.

Kondwani Chirambo of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa analyzed deaths among local lawmakers in South Africa. Over the last eight years, nearly half of the country's elected local councilors died before age 50. This "does not bode well" for South Africa, where poor government services are a chief public complaint, said Chirambo.

Chirambo said he has studied six other southern African countries where unusual numbers of deaths among lawmakers can be attributed to HIV/AIDS. In the region, just one elected official has openly disclosed her HIV status, something Chirambo attributes to stigma. "It is not a very healthy profile," he said. "It is clear a great deal of them feel to disclose your status is a form of political suicide."

South Africa has the world's largest HIV/AIDS caseload, with some 5.4 million people affected. According to Chirambo, 2.6 million registered voters there have died since 1999, the majority of them young. "If you look at the statistics, [members of Parliament] have been dying relatively young and dying in large numbers. These trends are not dissimilar from the general population," he added.

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