Posted on 07/15/2004 7:36:20 PM PDT by Indy Pendance
BANGKOK, Thailand, July 15 (UPI) -- The 2004 Human Development Index produced by the United Nations shows the pandemic of AIDS, often exacerbated by poverty and civil strife, has eroded life expectancy in seven African nations to levels that rival the lowest points in human history.
In the Central African Republic, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, a child born in 2004 would not be expected to see his or her 40th birthday.
"In all these countries AIDS is reversing the hard-won gains of recent decades," said Elizabeth Lwanga, deputy director of the U.N. Development Programme's Regional Bureau for Africa.
The index, issued this year by the UNDP in conjunction with the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, noted people in Zimbabwe in 1990 had a life expectancy of 56.6 years. In 2004, that figure has been reduced to 33.9 years. The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus or HIV -- the organism that causes AIDS -- among people in Zimbabwe ages 15 to 48 is estimated to be 34.6 percent or one in four.
Zambians in 1990 could have expected to live 47.4 years but in 2004 that life expectancy level has been diminished to 32.7 years -- the lowest on the list. In Zambia, 16.5 percent of the population ages 15-49 are HIV positive.
"These figures for life expectancy, I believe, haven't been seen since the early medieval periods," said Stephen Lewis, U.N. special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. "It represents the breakdown of the infrastructure of these nations due mainly to AIDS, which kills people during their most productive years."
Lewis told United Press International AIDS casts its shadow not only on those infected with the disease, but even on those who are not infected because of the overall breakdown in society and in the goods and services that are lacking because of devastation from the disease.
"We need an unprecedented and holistic response to this crisis," Lwanga said. "AIDS is taking a devastating toll on our communities, and on the capacity of our public institutions."
The Human Development report lists statistics on development trends in much of sub-Saharan Africa -- home to just over 10 percent of the world's population and almost two-thirds of all people living with HIV. About 25 million people in Africa are infected with the virus -- 38 million people are infected worldwide.
Dr. Mark Mitchnick, director of research and development for the International Partnership for Microbicides, said life expectancy in AID-ravaged countries such as Swaziland and Lesotho -- at about 50 years some 15 years ago -- now is at 36 years, possibly the "lowest ever seen in human history."
Mitchnick's organization is attempting to develop microbicides that could protect women from infection during sexual intercourse -- the main path of infection among people in Africa.
Lewis noted the AIDS epidemic is becoming more a disease that preferentially strikes women. In brief remarks to media at an event sponsored by Mitchnick's group Wednesday, Lewis said rates of HIV infection among young women ages 15-24 are becoming "hallucinatory" -- reaching 75 percent in some sub-Saharan African nations.
Zeda Rosenberg, chief executive office of the International Partnership for Microbicides, said in lieu of an effective vaccine against HIV -- still far from discovery -- microbicides represent the best chance that the AIDS pandemic can be slowed.
1 in 3 would be better. A small point, but typical of innumeracy in the press.
I don't think the press these days can really *do* much of anything these days, except bash the Right.
Maybe if every human being had a tatoo above his or her butt that said "EXIT ONLY" AIDS would still be confined to the monkeys.
These statistics are very questionable. Certain diseases are counted as AIDS whether the HIV virus is present or not.
I would guess that a very substantial percentage, probably a majority, of these deaths are due to war, starvation, misgovernment, and the general decay of living conditions throughout most parts of Africa. Greedy politicians, socialist economic policies, and the spread of Islam don't help.
This is great! In another 100 years, we may be able to begin repopulating the continent. Or we can make it a quarantine center for homosexuals who can't control their urges.
TB is a huge percentage of this #.
We're talking about Africa, not the United States or Europe.
It is mostly a heterosexual venereal disease in Africa, where there is very little homosexuality anyway.
These were medieval levels in Europe, not in Africa. The stated rates of longevity were common in Africa at any time before colonization by Western Civilisation. Now that the civilisation has deparated, it seems they are reverting to the previous norm. Civilisation is a fragile thing.
Source please?
Lima- have you ever heard/read any analysiss's'sees (punctutation is a bitch with them words what got's ss'ss) that suggest the incidence of HIV in the African continent is significantly overestimated?
Thoughts?
The 'epidemic' isn't as wide spread as they want it to be.
PBS just showed a show on AIDS in Angola tonight forget the name of the show, wasn't Frontline but their other documentary.
They are trying to stop Angola from succumming to the HIV Pandemic of the rest of subsahara africa. Due to its long unrest, it has until recently been very secluded from the rest of the area, and HIV has not reached the levels.. so far they are finding in areas of the country around the borders, rates are rising, but toward the interior rates remained low... at least amone Military personell who were the group tested.. which as we all know are higher risk persons to begin with.. as during times of war and high stress are more apt to engage in more risky behavior.
The fact are it is staggering in that part of the world. Basic ignorance, and a general societal machismo that would fit more into the dark ages than the modern world. When you have a society where men have several wives, frequent prostitutes and have girlfriends as well, and no one thinks twice about it, topped off with general ignorance of STD's and near 0 use of condoms, ALL STD's are going to spread... HIV unfortunately is one that has no cure.
There must be funadmental societal changes in these nations if HIV is to ever get controlled. Education and general social attitudes MUST be changed.. and that is something that is not going to happen soon.
Now I do agree that some of the stats overstate the numbers, but there is absolutely no doubt that it is devestating these nations.
Might it not be possible that men and women there are having anal intercourse?
Might a genetic impulse to it serve--from an evolutionary perspective--as a form of birth control in primitive cultures?
I agree that some of the numbers are dubious, claiming 40% of people in some countries seems a bit hard to believe credible. However even if the numbers are only 5%, the thing that must be kept in mind is that in Africa, most of sub sahara africa there is no treatment for HIV.. other than symptomatic treatement until they die... meaning once infected your life expectency is but a few years in most cases.
So if 1 in 20 has the disease, and they die every 2 years, it doesn't take a mathematician to figure out, your population is going to be decimated inside of a decade or two... imagine if every year 5% of american's died of just 1 disease.... and this repeated itself every single year...
The nations with the highest birth rates per 1000 people are barely at 5%.. the United states has only 1.4% birth rate per year...
You have nothing but a declining population if the numbers are merely at 5% annually... no nation could continue to exist with just that mortality rate annually for all causes of death... let alone 1 disease alone.
So while the numbers are dubious in some reports, the reality is, there is little doubt at this point that subsahara Africa at this point is suffering pandemic from HIV.
No, its more from men and women having heterosexual unprotected sex with multiple partners and the fact that STD's in general are prevalent in Subsahara africa for just the same reason... and those same STD's lead to open sores and other means in which HIV can more readily enter the bloodstream during sex.
just wondering, but do you think this was why monogamy was invented? doubles your life span?
intersting twist on that old Mark Twain question to his doctor: If I stop chasing women will I live longer? Answer: NO, but it will seem longer.
Maybe it will actuall BE longer as well
I wonder what the AIDs rate is like in other less developed areas.
How come we never hear of Amazon Rain Forest peoples having major problems with AIDs?
Productive years? What does Zambia and the like produce? Doesn't about 90% of their GDP consist of people pushing dirt around with sticks? (As I recall, the other 10% are grant writers begging for USA funding.)
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