"AIDS, 'Killer of the Fittest', Debilitates Developing World"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1992. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"AIDS, 'Killer of the Fittest', Debilitates Developing World"

Financial Times (11/27/92), P. 8
Holman, Michael

Abstract: The AIDS epidemic continues to produce stark consequences as it kills about 100,000 people a year worldwide. However, the worst affected are vulnerable economies of developing countries in general, and Africa in particular. Zambia's copper mines, for example, responsible for 75 percent of the country's export earnings, are vulnerable. "The danger is that skilled workers, supervisors, and managers will die of AIDS faster than replacements can be trained," said one expert. In addition, the World Health Organization says that life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa could fall to 47 years by the end of the century, compared to 62 years without the HIV/AIDS factor. According to a comprehensive survey conducted by the Panos Institute, an independent London-based research body, in 1990 the global cost of AIDS treatment was estimated at between $2.6 billion and $3.5 billion--no more than 2 percent of which was spent in sub-Saharan Africa. The report cautions that as the epidemic advances, existing skills shortages will worsen and new ones will be created. The Panos report said that more money should be allotted for prevention. Even if the spread of HIV were to stop overnight, the looming challenges are still enormous, said the institute. The long incubation period of the disease means that the number of AIDS causes would still grow over the next decade at an average of 10 percent a year, for a total of 40 million cases by the end of the century.

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