Posted on 06/22/2002 9:09:30 PM PDT by Neuromancer
South Africa's HIV/AIDS epidemic seems to be flattening out, according to figures released by the national health department.
The government's much delayed annual statistical report estimates that some 24.8% of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics were infected with HIV at the end of 2001, compared with 24.5% in the previous year.
Slight decreases in prevalence were shown among teenagers, from 16.1% in 2000 to 15.4% last year.
The survey's authors say that the drop is not statistically significant, however, whereas they say that the substantial rise among women aged 30-39 is significant.
Experts have also questioned the reliability of figures showing a drop in prevalence in that age group in KwaZulu-Natal (the province with the highest prevalence rate in the country) from 36.2% in 2000 to 33.5% last year.
with a title like that, and a statement like this, the bmj could get a bad name before long. also, bmj, what were the controls in this study?
What's the standard deviation?
The "African AIDS epidemic" is just another opportunity for the Left to fleece a few more billion out of the West.
Stay Safe
Could it be because there are so few people, relatively speaking, left???
In any society facing a deadly sex-transmitted disease, the numbers would have to plateau somewhere well below 100%. Some people are monogamous, others are asexual, others are plain lucky, at least for a while (long enough to learn about the disease).
Further, societal norms change in a time of rampant deadly STVs. I doubt siphilis in Europe (after 1492) peaked anywhere near 25% of the population -- even though siphilis is more easily spread than AIDs. Of course, 1490-era Europe was probably less sexually "open" than modern South Africa (or the West, for that matter), but before the onslaught of siphilis, adultery and premarital sex were relatively openly acknowledged in Europe, and there was a marked move away from such behaviour after siphilis appeared.
Darn tootin'! Spend the 500 million on 1,000 fuel-air bombs instead (or on psy-ops broadcasts of the movie "Babe").
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