Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
AIDS in Africa.
AIDS Updates; 4(6):1-16 1991. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ICDB/93688362 Quinn TC; Lab. of Immunoregulation, Natl. Inst. of Allergy and Infectious; Diseases, Bethesda, MD
Abstract:
In 1991 more than 350,000 cases of AIDS have been reported to the WHO from 162 countries. Due to weaknesses in the health infrastructure required for diagnosis and reporting of AIDS cases in many countries, it is estimated that 1 million persons have already developed AIDS, more than half of whom have died. Although Africa has 640 million of the world's 4.1 billion people and is the continent with the fastest growing population, it lags behind the rest of the world in the health status of its people, with very high infant and maternal mortality. The status of the AIDS pandemic in Africa is reviewed under the following headings: surveillance of AIDS in Africa, seroprevalence studies, HIV-2 infection, AIDS-associated mortality, modes of HIV transmission (sexual, perinatal, parenteral [blood transfusions, infections and scarification], and by other routes), clinical features, pediatric AIDS, clinical diagnosis of AIDS, laboratory diagnosis, the impact of AIDS in Africa, and prospects for control. With approx 6 million HIV-infected persons in Africa and more than 600,000 cases of AIDS over the past decade, AIDS has become a high priority public health problem for all African countries. Due to the heterosexual nature of spread, HIV infection already is having a dramatic effect on the African family in many urban and some rural areas. The highest rate of HIV infection has occurred in persons 20-40 years of age who are at the peak of their wage-earning capability. Although few studies have quantified the economic burden, some projections indicate that 10-20% of otherwise productive members of the work force in many countries will become incapacitated. Control of HIV through education, modification of sexual behavior, promotion and distribution of condoms, control of other sexually transmitted diseases, and universal screening of the blood supply is possible, but severely limited by economic resources. No individual nation in Africa has sufficient resources to build and sustain the epidemiologic, laboratory, clinical, and preventive activities required to control AIDS. Implementation of these programs needs to be strengthened by additional scientific information on how these programs can limit the spread of HIV. (187 Refs)
Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*EPIDEMIOLOGY/TRANSMISSION Adult Africa/EPIDEMIOLOGY Contraceptive Devices, Male Human HIV Seroprevalence Population Surveillance Sex Behavior JOURNAL ARTICLE 930330
M9331106
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Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
