OUAGADOUGOU, Feb 8 (AFP) - Thirteen African first ladies gathered Wednesday in Burkina Faso for a summit to coordinate efforts in the continent's fight against HIV/AIDS, which killed some 2.3 million Africans last year.
"AIDS is the leading cause of death in Burundi," said the Great Lakes' nation's first lady, Aude Ndayizeye.
"We are on the brink of catastrophe if we do not handle this problem."
The day-long summit of first ladies was an initiative created by the African Synergy against HIV/AIDS and Suffering, headquartered in Yaounde, Cameroon, since 2002.
Their goal Wednesday was to develop two strategic plans, aiming to halt the spread of AIDS and to give women a greater role in preventing and resolving conflicts in Africa -- among the major vectors for transmission of disease on the world's poorest continent.
"The extent of the phenomenon is absolutely aggravated by the conflicts that are ripping our continent apart," said Antoinette Sasso, first lady of Congo-Brazzaville where between four and seven percent of the country's three million people are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
The assembled first ladies painted grim pictures of the current situation for AIDS sufferers in their countries, despite extensive awareness and education campaigns in place for the last several years.
Of the 39.4 million people in the world living with AIDS or the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), nearly two-thirds -- 25.4 million -- live south of the Sahara.
More than four million of them face a death sentence because they lack access to antiretroviral drugs, the lifeline for an HIV-infected person.
The epicenter is southern Africa. In this region, which has two percent of the world's population, 11.4 million people have the virus, nearly 30 percent of the global tally of infections.
"Even with our efforts, the numbers of people living with AIDS are still climbing, from 24 million people to more than 25 million," said Chantal Biya, president of the African Synergy organization.
The vast majority of AIDS patients in sub-Saharan Africa are young women, aged 15 to 24, she added, which could have serious implications for the growth and sustainability of populations around the continent.
"Women and girls are confronted with multiple risk factors associated with HIV, in terms of their exposure to harmful traditional practices," said summit host Chantal Compaore, in an allusion to female genital mutilation, forced marriages and the practice in which wives are inherited by the relatives of their deceased husbands.
"We have not yet made enough progress in the fight against AIDS," she said.
Some six billion dollars in international aid was offered to the anti-AIDS battle in Africa in 2004, much of which is being used to subsidize the purchase of the anti-retroviral cocktail that stems the progression of the disease.
One woman in 10 in Africa benefits from therapy to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child, according to the conference attendees, who set as a goal the doubling of that incidence by the end of this year.
050208
AF050231
Copyright ©AFP 2005. All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission. obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP photos or materials. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP stories, photos or graphics. http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Bridgestone Firestone Trust Fund, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2005. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2005 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
