Study of Black Plague, Other Infectious Diseases Could Help Foresee Future of HIV/AIDS Epidemic
The world leaders who will meet at the U.N. World Summit on Sustainable Development at the end of August in Johannesburg, South Africa, to determine a strategy for stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015 should study infectious diseases in history to get "clues on how the continent's unfolding biomedical tragedy could mold its future," Reuters/Yahoo! News reports. Although U.S. government researchers estimate that the average life expectancy in 11 African nations will drop below age 40 by 2010 as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the history of past infectious diseases suggests that Africa "is in more trouble" than this figure suggests. Like the bubonic plague in Europe in the 14th century, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is shrinking the skills base, industrial production and food supply in Africa. According to Reuters/Yahoo! News, HIV/AIDS may have even more of an impact on Africa than the plague did on Europe. Unlike the plague, which sickened the "young and old alike," HIV/AIDS "disproportionate[ly]" affects the breadwinners of families, people ages 15 to 49. The African nations hardest hit by HIV/AIDS will need to take "drastic action" to avoid the fate of civilizations devastated by infectious diseases, according to Reuters/Yahoo! News (Stoddard, Reuters/Yahoo! News, 7/30).This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.