Mercy Global Concern - 2002

December 1- International HIV/AIDS Day

United Nations New York:

UNAIDS held a special session yesterday, November 26th 2002 to once again highlight the worsening HIV/AIDS crisis. Special guest was Whoopi Goldberg who urged delegates to the conference to note that this was not a black epidemic. Describing AIDS as the 'disease that does not care', she said that the best-kept secret around is that THERE ARE SOLUTIONS!

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is fuelling a widening and increasingly deadly famine in southern Africa. According to the new report released today, the African famine is a clear example of how the impact of HIV/AIDS reaches beyond the loss of life and health costs traditionally associated with disease. More than 14 million are now at risk of starvation in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. All six of these predominantly agricultural societies are battling serious AIDS epidemics, with more than 5 million adults currently living with HIV/AIDS, out of a total of 26 million.

"The famine in southern Africa brings the world face to face with the deep and devastating impact of AIDS," said Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS. "What we are seeing today in a number of countries of sub-Saharan Africa is an HIV epidemic that is overwhelming the coping resources of entire communities. We must act NOW, on a much larger scale than anything we have done before, not only to assist those nations already hard hit, but also to stop the explosive growth of AIDS in parts of the world where the epidemic is newly emerging."

The report shows a rapidly expanding epidemic in new areas. The fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemic is located today in Eastern Europe.

For more information visit the UNAIDS home page on www.unaids.org