-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- Africa's Plague http://www.cbnnow.com/newsstand/stories/000215.asp By George Thomas February 15, 2000 -- "We are looking at more people dying in Africa over the next few years than died in every major war in the 20th Century. In sheer numbers, it eclipses, in some respects, the horror of the Holocaust in Europe." Those are the words of Reverend Eugene Rivers. Sub-Saharan Africa has become the global epicenter of the AIDS virus. Every day, some six thousand African people die of AIDS. So far, the virus has claimed more than 13 million lives on the continent, 23 million more are carrying the deadly disease, and of the more than 33 million people worldwide who are infected with AIDS, 70 percent of them are in Africa. "It's, humanly speaking, such a hopeless, hopeless situation. We've never seen anything like it," says evangelist Reinhard Bonnke. In some of the hardest hit countries, like South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Tanzania, life expectancies are plummeting. In Zimbabwe, the UN reports that the life span there is likely to fall from 61 to 39 within the next decade. AIDS is now the leading killer on the continent, and experts predict the epidemic has yet to peak. Across southern and eastern Africa, the majority of all hospital beds are occupied by AIDS patients. Next to the hospitals are the local morgues, filled with corpses, mostly those of AIDS victims. And next to the mortuaries are the coffin makers, where business is booming because so many are dying. Most sobering of all is that the plague has created a generation of orphans -- 10 million of them -- left behind because AIDS killed their parents. The UN predicts that this figure will rise to 40 million in the next ten years. Parents are dying at such a rate that children, who traditionally would be cared for by relatives, are being abandoned and forced to fend for themselves. "People are neglecting them, people don't like them. Once they hear that they have HIV & AIDS they don't want to live with them," says school counselor Zipporah Kombo of Kicoshep. "To loose parents is a painful thing, especially at our age," says orphan Tsietsi. "We are still very young." For many girl orphans, the future is especially bleak. Many sell sex to survive. The promise of food for sex lures girls into a life of prostitution. "The future of our young people is at stake; the future of our young people is in jeopardy," says Zimbabwe pastor Mnkandla Ngwiza. And it's not just the young. Teachers, business people, government leaders, farmers and other skilled people, are being cut down by AIDS. Last month, Vice President Al Gore, said he would ask Congress for 150 million dollars to fight the spread of AIDS in Africa. Experts say it's a small amount compared to what's needed, and Gore has yet to specify how this money will be funneled to the continent. This has many concerned. "If that money is turned over to the governments of Africa, it is going to end up in Swiss bank accounts, it's going to end-up being wasted, and if we are serious about doing something about AIDS, then I would suggest that we go through the church-based mission hospitals," says Franklin Graham of Samaritan's Purse. In country after country, the vicious cycle of poverty, ignorance, lack of medical care and promiscuity helps fuel the epidemic. In some cases, the disease is also spread by traditional factors. Tribal leaders tell men that having sex with a young virgin will cure AIDS. "This has resulted in a lot of rape cases for young girls," says National AIDS Secretariat Olivia Liwewe. "We've had two-year-old girls being raped, and there's a case of a father who was so desperate that he raped his two-month-old baby girl." In this culture of shame and denial, AIDS continues to devour the continent. The sobering reality is that the epidemic is far from over, and so far, little is being done to stop it. To find out more information or to support Africa AIDS Relief, please write: Africa AIDS Relief CBN Center Virginia Beach, VA 23463 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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