AIDS Scourge Grows "Relentlessly" in Africa

Approximately 99 percent of Africans needing life-saving treatment for AIDS lack access to antiretroviral therapy, the World Health Organization said in its annual report.

Issued at an ongoing five-day meeting of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa in Johannesburg, the report noted "the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to spread relentlessly in the African region." "HIV/AIDS interventions for prevention, life-saving treatment, and support among Africans is still low. Only 50,000 of the 4.5 million people who need antiretroviral therapy have access to treatment despite significant reductions in cost," the WHO report said.

As the most AIDS-affected continent in the world, Africa has close to 30 million HIV-infected people and suffered an estimated 3 million AIDS deaths last year. Overall, 9 percent of African adults carry HIV. Southern Africa is particularly hard hit, with a 20 percent rate in most countries in the region, while Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe have adult prevalence rates above 30 percent. "The intersection between poverty, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS was starkly illustrated in southern Africa, where 13 million people faced famine because HIV/AIDS undermined the capacity of households and communities to withstand drought," the document said.

Delegates Tuesday heard that the economic value of lost life years owing to AIDS in 1999 was estimated to be 12 percent of the gross national product of sub-Saharan Africa, the South African Press Association reported.

On Monday, WHO Director General Jong-Wook Lee welcomed a World Trade Organization deal allowing poor countries that lack pharmaceutical infrastructure to import cheaper generic drugs to fight such killer diseases as AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. "Based on this, we can work further, so every person who needs medicines can have access to them at an affordable price," Lee said at the opening of the WHO meeting.

Back to other news for September 4, 2003

Search the Newsroom archive