Little Hope, Less Help

The epidemic has hit with devastating force--and things will get much worse before they get better

As a metaphor for hopelessness, it's hard to equal the AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. Twenty-four million of the area's people are HIV-positive--70% of the world's infected population. Thirteen million Africans have already died of AIDS, and 10 million more are expected to die within five years. In South Africa, 1 in 5 adults is infected; in Botswana the rate of infection is 1 in 3; in Zimbabwe it is 1 in 4. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2003, AIDS-related deaths will slow population growth in some of these nations to zero, and the population in Botswana, Zimbabwe and...

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