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UN highlights AIDS devastation

    JOHANNESBURG

    A senior UN official has warned that famine in Africa could worsen unless action was taken to tackle HIV/AIDS.

    UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot made the statement during a conference of the UN Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa, saying, "Unless urgent interventions are made, the epidemic could cause a steady fall in agricultural production, which would fuel serious famine in African countries."

    In a report detailing the devastation wreaked by the pandemic in Africa, published by the Commission on Tuesday, Malawi, Zambia, South Africa and Kenya were among the countries mentioned.

    In 2003 AIDS claimed the lives of up to 2.2 million Africans, while an estimated 3 million contracted HIV, bringing the number of people living with the virus to 25 million.

    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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