NUMBING AIDS STATISTICS PROMPT BILLION-DOLLAR CRISIS FUND

by Tinashe Madava

A billion-dollar World Bank initiative launched in Lusaka recently could serve as a blueprint for future aid to Africa's efforts against the HIV/AIDS pandemic by making it a focus of all development efforts.

The plan, called "Intensifying Action against HIV/AIDS in Africa: Responding to a Development Crisis", would allocate up to US $3 billion annually to the fight against the disease in sub-Saharan Africa, the worst-hit region in the world.

"The strategy stands on four pillars (from) advocacy to positioning HIV/AIDS as a central development issue and to increase and sustain an intensified response," the Bank's regional vice-president for Africa, Callisto Madawo, said at the launching ceremony.

Over 5,000 health experts and activists gathered in Lusaka recently for the 11th International Symposium on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted diseases repeatedly warned that the rapidly spreading disease could derail economic gains if countries do not form joint emergency efforts to curb its spread.

The region's statistics are chilling. Zimbabwe's life expectancy could drop from 61 to 41 in five years. An estimated quarter of adults in Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe are now HIV positive.

In South Africa alone it is estimated that there are about 1,500 new infections each day. In Zambia every teenager has a 60 percent chance of contracting the virus. There were according to the United Nations Aids programme (UNAIDS) 16,000 new infections each day in Africa during 1998, at least 50 percent of which were economically active people.

The appalling aspect of these mind-numbing figures is that Africa, with one-tenth of the world's population, has 95 percent of AIDS orphans and a cumulative death toll of 11 million. The pandemic now outstrips malaria as the top killer disease on the continent.

Aside from the obvious humanitarian tragedy of today's pandemic, the future of millions more will be blighted as the continent loses its most productive age group - those from their teens to mid-thirties - people who should be at the cutting edge of growth, development, information and technology and the hopes for Africa's renaissance.

Only through a concerted effort by all sectors of society beginning with national governments and their leaders to industry, science, academia, labour, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), church and business can some positive turnaround occur, the symposium agreed. However, many African countries have retreated in the face of the growing disaster.

Despite the urging of the AIDS activists, the opening of the Lusaka conference did not attract a single African head of state, including the host country's President Frederick Chiluba who was to have officially opened the annual global event but sent his vice-president instead. No explanation was given. None of the other 10 heads of state mentioned as key participants, attended the opening, but it is not clear if any of them were actually invited or by whom.

Scientists support the activists. They point to new and drug-resistant mutations of the virus which are appearing in the West where expensive symptom-suppressing and extremely expensive drugs plus massive educational campaigns had brought the disease under control, although there is no cure yet, they insist.

Drugs are simply not available in the developing world due to their high costs and, to date, activists have been unsuccessful in persuading companies to supply protein blocks and other drugs to the Third World at reduced prices. (SARDC)