War Creates Explosive AIDS Situation In Central Africa April 20, 2000 Peter Masebu PANA Correspondent DAKAR, Senegal (PANA) - The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo's chapter of the Society of African Women and AIDS in Africa, Kadi Mwady Aimee, Thursday predicted an explosive situation of the incurable disease in the central African region because of the current wars. "Because the numerous wars are causing massive ongoing population movements, rapes, and promiscuity, we should be prepared for an AIDS explosion that is ten times or more than today in the central Africa region and the Great Lakes," she told PANA after the opening of a meeting of African anti-AIDS non-governmental organisations at Goree Island, four km off Dakar. Officially opening the three-day meeting, the director of the Senegalese national AIDS control programme, Dr. Ibra Ndoye, appealed to international donors to allocate more resources to strengthen NGOs fighting HIV/AIDS. He also called for greater co-operation between governments and the NGOs to take care of people living with HIV/AIDS, now estimated at 23.3 million in Africa. Ndoye said that this type of co-operation was behind the international acclaim for Senegal, which has maintained a low HIV prevalence rate of below 2 percent, and Uganda, the only country that has reduced prevalence from double digits to single. He stressed the need for each anti-AIDS network to regard people living with HIV as important actors in the fight against the pandemic because of their practical experience. The executive director of the Dakar-based Environmental Development Action in the Third World, Jacques Bugnicourt, said that he expected the meeting to strengthen the knowledge of the NGOs on dealing with the epidemic and come up with proposals to improve the interaction with external partners. He told PANA that the NGOs need to do a lot establish broad confidence with people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as with donors, to do away with the suspicion that "they are merely diverting resources into their personal pockets." Earlier, Bugnicourt had urged the NGO delegates to carry out a "revolutionary break" with the past or else they will be blamed by future generations of allowing AIDS to thrive. "This will be tantamount to refusal to assist people in danger," he said, stressing the need to make people aware of their HIV status to prevent them from further spreading the AIDS causing virus. Citing the example of Senegal, he said only 10 percent of people were aware of their HIV status. Meanwhile, Tati Isaac, a representative of the Cameroonian Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS, said many NGOs were doing their best to combat the epidemic but lacked the required resources. He appealed to the international community to help Africa deal with the epidemic. "If Africa has more than 70 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS then it deserves more assistance," Isaac, who has been living with HIV for the past 15 years, said. The meeting is being attended by NGOs from 17 Anglophone and Francohone countries. Participants are expected to review and adopt an existing document guiding the partnership between African NGOs and international donors. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html <A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
