AEGiS-IRIN: ZAMBIA: Chiluba speaks of devastation of AIDS

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

ZAMBIA: Chiluba speaks of devastation of AIDS

Integrated Regional Information Networks - November 22, 2000

JOHANNESBURG, 22 November (IRIN) - Zambian President Frederick Chiluba said on Wednesday the AIDS pandemic was so overwhelming that his government was unable to cope with its human cost, Reuters reported. In a rare statement on AIDS on the 'Day of Affirmation' for people living with AIDS, Chiluba spoke of the personal pain he had endured seeing gains made during his nine years in office undermined by "this human catastrophe".

"Almost every family has either suffered the loss of a loved one, or is in the process of nursing a loved one in the terminal stages of the disease," Chiluba said. "So overwhelming has been the scale of the scourge that our medical, social and traditional structures are unable to cope with the human cost exacted by the pandemic." One in every five Zambian adults has HIV or AIDS.

Because conventional drug cocktails were too expensive, AIDS sufferers in Zambia were resorting to untried alternative remedies, including herbal medicines, he said. "The outcome had been catastrophic, because some of these medicines were useless or even highly toxic," he said in a passionate appeal, which, however, fell short of declaring AIDS a national disaster. The Zambian government estimates that it needs $559 million for programmes on AIDS prevention, care, support and impact mitigation for the next three years.

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