80 Million Africans Will Die Of AIDS

Twenty five million Africans carry the AIDS-Virus in their body. The United Nations has published a report into HIV and AIDS detailing what has to be done against this incurable increase.

“What is done today will change the future”, says the study AIDS in Africa, which was published by the UN department UNAIDS on Friday (March 4 2005).

The UN report finds that by 2025 more than 80 million people will have died of AIDS, and unless nothing is done to diffuse the epidemic the number of infections will rise from 25 to 90 million.

According to UNAIDS 16 million people could be prevented from dying from AIDS, another 43 million could be prevented from an HIV-Infection, if 200 billion US$ were invested.

At the moment 6.500 people in Africa die of AIDS every day>

In 2004 there were 3.1 million new infections.

In nine countries the average life expectancy has declined to less than 40 years because of AIDS. There are eleven million AIDS-orphans.

Around 25 million people carry the virus.

The worst case scenario is the death of every tenth African.

The UNAIDS report concludes that as long as public disorganisation, bad health education and care, as well as wide consideration of licence and price politics of pharmaceutical companies remains, HIV is going to spread by factor four.

In the best case scenario, international help for Africa would be doubled and the investments of single countries into health care, education, AIDS-treatment and production of nutrients would be extensively raised. But even then the number of infections, deaths and orphans would increase.

If the measures stay at the same level as today, experts warn that the African continent will face a deep economical and societal crisis.

Hope remains, however, the best case scenario is considered unrealistic. The report suggests barriers to fighting HIV and AIDS is not just a question of money. Many African countries are themselves rich in resources but suffer from corruption by their national elites. For outside assistance at the levels required, these countries will have to be categorised as nations that failed in their social, education and economy politics.

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