| ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH:
The Africa/AIDS catastrophe has many faces: The sick and dying, the mourners
at graveside... Orphans who sing longingly about waking up the dead...
The volunteers who try to help. These scenes are from Botswana and Malawi,
but they could be almost any country in sub-Saharan Africa, where 25 million
people are infected with the virus that causes AIDS. 17 million people
in Africa have already died of AIDS, and millions more are dying now.
MARYLINE MULEMBA: If you would say, "tomorrow one million people
will die because of an earthquake," everybody would rush here and
bring help. But these people will die slowly and in silence, more or
less. The help coming in is still very small.
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: The response from African governments has varied
greatly. Malawi is pushing hard on prevention, but the government lacks
resources to do much in the way of treatment. Botswana, with its diamond
wealth and with help from abroad, is about to offer life- saving anti-retroviral
drugs to all who need them. South Africa's President Tabo Mbeki has
raised questions about the causes of aids and the link between HIV and
the disease. But his government has also taken steps to access cheaper
generic AIDS drugs and the technology to manufacture them. About 4.5
million people in South Africa are HIV-positive. Internationally, a
campaign by AIDS activists succeeded last year in getting drug companies
to lower prices for the anti- retroviral medications. But even at prices
90% lower than in the U.S., drugs are still beyond the reach of most
Africans, and there is a debate among those working on AIDS in Africa
and elsewhere about whether the current emphasis on drugs is taking
the spotlight off prevention, where it should be. Earlier this month,
President Bush, flanked by Nigerian President Obasanjo and UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, promised $200 million for a global AIDS fund first proposed
by Annan in April. The Secretary-General is hoping to raise $7 billion
to $10 billion to prevent the further spread of the epidemic and treat
those who are already sick.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: We have the power to help. The United States
is committed to working with other nations to reduce suffering and to
spare lives, and working together is the key.
PRESIDENT OLUSEGUN OBASANJO, Nigeria: All nations, governments, foundations,
private individuals and private sector, and indeed all humankind who
are stakeholders in the health of humanity are challenged and called
upon to make contributions to the global trust fund for HIV, AIDS, and
related diseases.
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: The trust fund would apply not just to Africa,
but also to the rest of the underdeveloped world. AIDS experts worry
that HIV is also spreading rapidly in heavily populated India and elsewhere
in Asia.
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