What about Africa ? Sex has nothing to do with it

Overall, 35% of Africa's children are at higher risk of death than they were 10 years ago. Every hour, more than 500 African mothers lose a small child. In 2002, more than four million African children died. [...]

Mostly, death comes in familiar garb. The main causes among children are depressingly recognizable: the perinatal conditions closely associated with poverty; diarrhoeal diseases; pneumonia and other lower respiratory tract conditions; and malaria. [It has nothing to do with 'AIDS', these were also common 50 years ago.]

WHO, The World Health Report 2003.

Notes from the conference AIDS in Africa, December 8th 2003, in the European Parliament.

Nutritional AIDS dominates the scene in South Africa today as indeed it did during Apartheid. In the middle 50's and 60's, 50% of black children were dead before the age of 5. The causes of death were recorded as: PNEUMONIA, HIGH FEVER, DEHYDRATION and intractable DIARRHOEA due to protein deficiency.

Today, these clinical features are called AIDS. Today in South Africa, TB is the leading cause of death and morbidity amongst Africans, but this is called AIDS.

In conclusion, NUTRITIONAL AIDS is a direct result of Apartheid in association with capitalist iatrogenesis - hence the shacks (favelas), lack of sanitation, lack of clean drinking water, unemployment and destitution.

Prof. Sam Mhlongo, MD, Chief Specialist Family Physician & Head of The Department of Family Medicine at The Medical University of Southern Africa; Member of the South African Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel, South Africa.

In Tanzania, the population of the Kagera region, epicenter of AIDS 15 years ago, hasn't ceased growing since then, ie with a 53% increase between 1988 and 2002.

The demographic catastrophe expected as a result of the 'deadliest epidemic in history' did not materialize, on the contrary. Yet, no real, concrete anti-viral measures were applied in the region. The only explanations for this lie in the improvement in the economic conditions and in development aid. An example of a global approach to development is found in the NGO, Partage Tanzania.

While the experts, with their statistics, would have one believe that there exists an extremely serious HIV/AIDS epidemic, no trace of an epidemic is observable in the field. All that can be seen is a very poor, under-nourished population suffering from malaria, endemic immunodeficiency and common illnesses.

Tanzania, Kagera Region, epicentre of AIDS 15 years ago: Present situation, by Marc Deru, MD and Nutritionist, Member of the Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of AIDS, Belgium.

During the 1990s HIV propagated rapidly in Zimbabwe, increasing at an estimated rate of 12% annually. At the same time, the overall sexually transmitted infections (STI) burden declined an estimated 25% [...] while there was a parallel increase in reported condom use by high-risk persons (prostitutes, lorry drivers, miners, and young people).