AIDS

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) An illness that became widespread during the early 1980s, though its origins are still unclear. It is caused by the HIV virus, which gradually destroys a person's immune system until he or she develops AIDS. There is no final cure for AIDS, which makes the body vulnerable to diseases like pneumonia, cancer, or fever. However, drugs have been developed in recent years which dramatically slow down the reproduction of the HIV virus in the body, and in this way extend the life expectancy of the individual. According to UNAIDS, by 2001 over 40 million people were affected with the virus worldwide, with over 28 million living in sub-Saharan Africa alone. There, HIV infection had reached epidemic proportion in sixteen countries. In Botswana, between 35 and 43 per cent of pregnant women were infected with the virus in 2000. Over 20 per cent of the adult population in South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, and Swaziland were suspected of being infected. This raised important issues of equity, as almost all research on the disease is devoted to strands of HIV most common in the United States and Europe. Through its concentration, the HIV virus also became a crucial demographic issue, as life expectancy in the most affected countries dropped to pre-1950 levels. In Botswana, it was estimated that two-thirds of all male 15-year olds would die prematurely of AIDS.

http://www.unaids.org