Aids: India & Southern Africa

Futurist Topics - Health

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India AIDS situation The following facts are based on a recent three city tour of India and participation in the World Economic Forum Southern Africa Economic Summit in May 1997. 

 
  • The global pandemic continues to accelerate very rapidly despite hopeful signs of behaviour change in some countries and continuing progress with more effective but highly costly HIV treatments. (For more on treatment see news).
 
  • African nations continue to suffer with alarming lack of action by many.
 
  • For example a recent UNAIDS survey of 40 companies in Zimbabwe found that in a country with almost a fifth of all adults already infected, only four out of 40 companies had taken any steps to educate their own workers.
 
  • Of those four, only two had been prepared to do so without being paid by another organisation.
 
  • Many company Chairmen and CEOs continue to insist that very few of their workforce are infected. Those that are facing reality are often fatalistic, convinced that education is a "complete waste of time".
 
  • India is facing a similar catastrophe made worse by the absence of a high profile government health campaign, in a population more than 50 times that of Zimbabwe or Uganda. 800 infected daily in Bombay with 2.5% of all adults HIV. More HIV in India than whole of Africa today by 2000, more than whole world today by 2005-10.
 
  • The absence of government action is striking with 30 million lives at risk in India over the next five to ten years, and perhaps 200 million over the following decade.

Useful India AIDS links

http://www.avert.org/aidsindia.htm

Worldbank.org
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