Search
  1. Home
  2. Africa
  • News

AFRICA: HIV/AIDS worse threat than a war in Iraq - Kofi Annan

    JOHANNESBURG

    HIV/AIDS will cause more loss of life during 2003 than a war in Iraq, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in New York on Tuesday.

    "The worldwide HIV/AIDS pandemic will claim many more lives this year than even a war in Iraq would, and then will go on claiming more and more lives in 2004 and 2005," Annan said.

    According to UNAIDS, AIDS is now the number one cause of death in Africa, and the fourth highest globally. In Botswana alone, nearly 36 percent of the adult population is estimated to be infected with HIV.

    Annan said that Zimbabwe, once a bread basket in southern Africa, is now at the heart of the famine that is further fuelling the AIDS epidemic.

    The World Health Organisation believes that as many as 500,000 Iraqis would need immediate medical treatment for injuries as a direct result of the pending war in their country.

    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

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join