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AIDS threatens growth, say experts

    ABIDJAN

    Unless the rising incidence of HIV/AIDS in West Africa is curbed, all past development gains in the subregion will be wiped out, `The Guardian' of Lagos reported health care experts as saying on Monday.

    The warning came at the opening of the five-day regional conference in Abuja, Nigeria, on HIV/AIDS. The experts named war, civil uprising, non-acceptance of customs, cultural and ethnic practices, women's status and their inability to influence their partners' behaviour as factors that help spread AIDS.

    Leading health specialists at the meeting are former Nigerian health minister Olikoye Ransome-Kuti; National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA) Chairman Ibironke Akinsete; US Presidential Coordinator, Education for Democracy and Development Initiative, Sarah Meten; and WHO Regional Director for Africa Ebrahim Samba.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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