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Africa hardest-hit by HIV
December 1, 1996
Web posted at: 10:15 a.m. EST (1515 GMT)From Correspondent Jim Clancy
(CNN) -- More than half the world's HIV-positive population lives in Africa, where the virus has cut the average life expectancy by as much as 10 years in some areas over the past decade.
The alarming rate of HIV infection has led to widespread AIDS awareness programs throughout the continent. But poverty and communication problems in rural areas, where the majority of Africa's population lives, appear to be undermining education efforts.
The epidemic prompted Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Sunday to encourage South Africans to use condoms.
"I want to urge all those who choose to have sex outside of marriage to take the right precautions and practice safer sex," said Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
"Please use a condom."
From miners to pregnant women, virus spreads
According to a new United Nations AIDS report, 63 percent of people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, live in Africa. Other statistics:
- In South Africa, 10 to 20 percent of mine workers are HIV-positive.
- More than 20 percent of pregnant women in Rwanda and Burundi carry the virus, many unwittingly passing it on to their unborn children.
- Half the soldiers in some African armies are HIV-positive.
Uganda fights back
In Uganda, the first African country to confront the disease, 50 percent of hospital beds are filled with AIDS patients.
Health ministry figures show 1.8 million people -- 10 percent of Uganda's population -- have the HIV virus and that more than 46,000 people are known to suffer from full blown AIDS.
Only one doctor for every 50,000 or more people exists, and from 1980 to 1994 average life expectancy dropped from 52 to 42, among the lowest in the world.
Despite the daunting number, Ugandan health service officials stress that education efforts in urban areas are working.
"The incidence of AIDS has dropped dramatically in the 14- to 24-year-old age group -- a clear result of the campaign to increase awareness of the danger AIDS represents," said Dr. Elizabeth Madraa, Ugandan AIDS control manager.
Cultural obstacles
But spreading the message to rural areas of the continent has produced less promising results, as many have yet to part with traditional beliefs about sex.
Some Zambian teen-agers believe their sexual organs will shrivel up if they don't have intercourse. Other African cultures prohibit a woman from refusing sex to her husband, even if he is HIV-positive. And some infected men believe having sex with a virgin will cure them.
But health officials maintain hope that their message will help debunk past beliefs and reduce the rate of infection, as it has in urban areas of Uganda.
"Something is happening," Madraa said, referring to the reduced cases of AIDS in cities. "It shows that something is being done."
Reuters contributed to this report.
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