Equal Opportunity AIDS

[Robert Harris]

Those of us who do not use needles and only do women can no longer feel very safe...

Excerpts:

Tue November 26, 2002 09:06 AM ET
By Patricia Reaney

LONDON (Reuters) - It started as a mysterious infection among gay white men but over two decades HIV/AIDS has exploded into the worst epidemic humanity has ever faced and is now afflicting as many women as men.

AIDS will have killed 3.1 million people by the end of this year, five million more have been infected with the deadly virus and 42 million people, half of them women, are living with HIV/AIDS, according to the latest figures from UNAIDS, the United Nations agency spearheading the battle against AIDS.

"For me what is most striking is that for the first time women comprise 50 percent of the global epidemic," Peter Piot, the head of UNAIDS, told Reuters on Tuesday.

"In Africa 58 percent of all people living with HIV are women. The face of AIDS is becoming the face of young women," he added in an interview ahead of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

More at:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=1807818v

[ethics]

Take out the Africa factor and what does the percentage go down to?

[Robert Harris]

Did not see a non-Africa figure in the story but since it is worldwide 50%, 58% in Africa, it has to be less than 50% in world-less-Africa.

Think you will be safe if you avoid African women? I wouldn't count on it.

[ethics]

Originally posted by Robert Harris
Think you will be safe if you avoid African women? I wouldn't count on it.

No, I didn't mean the way it came out.

Africa, as we all know, are not just medically backward but when they have people in medicine denying that HIV is the causing virus, AND mix in the culture which thinks it's ok and has to keep it hush hush... well, the result is obvious.

I have the most compassion for African women.

[Robert Harris]

Don't forget the childreen -- loads of babies born with AIDS, loads of orphans when the parents go, etc. And not much help from anyone.

[ShinyTop]

In another universe far far away I posted that the industrial countries should do massive funding to help defeat aids in Africa. I was almost universally flamed with posters saying we should defeat cancer and other diseases here. People don't understand to this day that it is not just "sinners" that get the disease.

My take is we need to defeat it before it mutates further to a different vector and we are catching it from fleas or mosquitoes.

[Coriolis]

Shoot, the link appears to be dead. :(

[Robert Harris]

Yep/ I couldn't get it either.