Africa: frontline against AIDS.

PIP: The Panos Report, the most globally comprehensive report on acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) produced to date, indicates there is no conclusive proof that AIDS started in Africa but shows that the problem is now more serious in Africa than in any other area of the world. It is now considered most likely that AIDS started in Haiti, Central or South America, or even in a laboratory in the US. At least 1 million Africans, largely from the central and eastern parts of the country, are expected to die of AIDS in the next decade. In some African countries, 20% of the urban population is already infected with the AIDS virus. The situation in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zaire, and Zambia is 20-50 times worse than that in New York City, yet financial and medical resources are sorely limited. In countries such as Zaire, up to 10% of babies born are infected with the AIDS virus. Moreover, it seems increasingly likely that the AIDS virus can be transmitted from mothers to infants through infected breast milk--a finding with serious public health consequences. There is also recent concern that immunization can have serious side effects for children already infected with AIDS. In case of both breastfeeding and immunization, governments must determine whether the risks of AIDS transmission through these means outweigh the risks of discouraging these practices--both of which are essential to child health in developing countries. Screening blood is generally regarded as the best first step that African governments can take in the fight against AIDS, but outside assistance will be necessary to fund such and effort.^ieng