AFRO-NETS> HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA: Conference Convened on Continent's Top Killer

[Dieter Neuvians MD <neuvians@harare.iafrica.com>]

HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA: Conference Convened on Continent's Top Killer
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Source: http://www.unfoundation.org


The 11th International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa 
opened yesterday in Lusaka, Zambia, "amid calls for the pan-
demic to be declared a global 'super-disaster,'" the London 
Telegraph reports. 

UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot said there were 16,000 new 
HIV infections per day last year, half of them among the young. 
More than 80% of deaths from the disease have occurred in Af-
rica, which has the 21 countries with the highest HIV rates in 
the world (London Telegraph, 13 Sep). The pandemic has left 6 
million children orphaned in eastern and southern Africa, where 
more than 70% of the world's AIDS orphans live (Agence France-
Presse, 12 Sep). 

Piot noted that the world community has failed to mobilize to 
fight the disease and that half of all babies born in Africa 
are infected with HIV. "AIDS is cutting productivity of compa-
nies, far too many people are too sick to work, Africa's middle 
class is being decimated," Piot said (BBC Online, 12 Sep). Piot 
said eliminating stigma against infected persons "is a key way 
to break the silence and move the response forward" (Musengwa 
Kayaya, Panafrican News Agency, 12 Sep).

Yet Piot also "gave a glimmer of hope when he told the confer-
ence that through the international partnership against AIDS in 
Africa, the organization was building a broad coalition of gov-
ernments, multilateral organizations and other sectors to fight 
the scourge" (Kayaya/Mulenga, Panafrican News Agency, 12 Sep). 
  
African Heads Of State Fail To Show 
The Irish Times reports that not one of Africa's heads of state 
was present at the opening, not even Zambian President Freder-
ick Chiluba, whose address to the conference was delivered by 
Zambian Vice President Christone Tembo. "No official explana-
tion was given for his absence," the newspaper notes.

Some 5,000 delegates to the five-day conference are discussing 
practical ways of fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which is es-
timated to have infected 22.5 million Africans and to have 
killed 11 million others (Irish Times, 13 Sep). HIV/AIDS has 
become the top killer in Africa, which is home to two-thirds of 
those infected with the virus worldwide (BBC Online, 12 Sep).

Chiluba's prepared remarks called for African researchers to 
find "imaginative, novel and bold solutions" to the diseases 
and challenged them to develop the necessary scientific confi-
dence to go beyond the "stereotype approach" of continually 
looking to the developed North for answers. He said it is dis-
heartening that little use has been made during the last 10 
years of the African knowledge base on the diseases (Mildred 
Mulenga, Panafrican News Agency, 12 Sep).
  
Declaration Recognizes HIV/AIDS 'Disaster'
A declaration issued by African leaders at the opening session 
pledged greater resources to tackle the pandemic. The declara-
tion noted: "HIV/AIDS is a national disaster in our countries 
requiring an emergency response." The admission that the pan-
demic is a disaster came after several speakers called on the 
leader to publicly recognize the magnitude of the problem and 
give it due attention (Agence France-Presse/Nando.net, 12 Sep)

Agence France-Presse notes that "millions of adults are dying 
in their 30s and 40s, leaving in their wake orphaned children, 
overwhelmed hospitals and companies and schools hit by the loss 
of skilled staff." Its report includes a country breakdown of 
HIV/AIDS statistics from 14 African nations (Agence France-
Presse/Johannesburg Mail & Guardian, 10 Sep).

World Bank Pledges Focus On AIDS In Africa 
World Bank Regional Director for Africa Callisto Madavo said 
the bank has recognized AIDS as "the foremost threat to Af-
rica's development initiatives" and decided to make the pan-
demic an integral part of its development activities in the re-
gion. Madavo challenged African governments to put AIDS at the 
center of their development agenda (Kayaya, Panafrican News 
Agency, 12 Sep).

Delegates to the conference "will be told the workplace is an 
effective setting for teaching AIDS prevention and for foster-
ing better understanding" of the disease, the Financial Times 
reports, noting that there are signs the pandemic is increas-
ing. Sarah Vincent of UNICEF: "It's wiping out teachers and 
civil servants faster than the government can train them."

Business has not only a responsibility but an incentive to 
tackle AIDS in the workplace, said Deborah Boswell of the Kara 
Counseling and Training Trust in Lusaka (David Pilling, Finan-
cial Times, 13 Sep). 

--
Send mail for the `AFRO-NETS' conference to `afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to:  `owner-afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.