이름:바라 2002/7/14(일)

원문] AIDS와 말라리아와의 관계   * 외국의 에이즈 단체로부터 온 메일입니다. 오래 전에 왔는데, 이제야 메일을 읽어보았네요. 내용이 매우 좋습니다. 말라이아와 에이즈의 관계에 대해 평소 궁금해 하던 분들에게는 훌륭한 참고 자료가 될 것입니다. http://www.ctrlaltesc.org Malaria threatens 40% of the worlds' population, which translates to approximately 2.5 billion people. It has appeared as a pandemic throughout the world, but the threat is most evident on the African continent, where it has become a killer disease, claiming millions of lives and subjecting millions more to abject poverty. Malaria is one of the greatest public health challenges facing most of Africa today. It kills hundreds of thousands of people a year, sometimes cripples its' victims and, macro-economically, bleeds the nations' coffers dry. However, across the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, a total of 23 million adults and children are estimated to be living with HIV or AIDS. This is approximately eight percent of the total population in the region. Which presents the African governments with a moral dilemma; which killer disease should they fight - HIV/AIDS or Malaria? The trend is already visible, as according to the WHO, half of all new HIV infections are occurring among young people, who are unaware of HIV/AIDS, and as stubborn facts point out that sub-Saharan Africa has the highest HIV prevalence in the world. Furthermore, studies indicate that young people in developing countries still have far too little knowledge about HIV/AIDS and how it is transmitted. Another interesting, recently unearthed fact, indicates that fewer than 5% of the people who need treatment for AIDS, in the developing world, have access to the medicines they need. All in all, the statistics paint a bleak picture concerning the global, or more correctly, the African battle against the indiscriminate killer - AIDS. However, in some areas of Africa, with more than 80% of children infected with the malaria parasite, governments can do little but to fight off a two-pronged attack. The fight against malaria has proved an extremely expensive one, with the parasite quickly developing resistance to new drugs, coupled with the decision by environmental elitists from the west to mystifyingly ban the use of DDT, which for over fifty years had effectively and cheaply kept malaria at bay in the African continent and throughout the world, thus forcing governments to invest and re-invest vast amounts of capital, which could have been used for development purposes or in the fight against HIV/AIDS, into fighting the recurring nightmare of malaria. Recent evidence also indicates that, due to rising levels of medicine resistance, almost half of the money spent on anti-malarial medicines is being used to pay for inappropriate treatments. In fact recently, WHO officials have warned that the economic burden of malaria on Africa was heavy and that the illness had become a major development issue. Citing a recent study by Harvard University, the officials said that sub-Saharan Africa's GDP in the year 2000, would have been a colossal 32 per cent higher, had malaria been eliminated 25 years ago. Read more..........http://www.mandatethefuture.org