ABSTRACT: Provides data relative to the spread of the AIDS "pandemic" in the world.

(1994 - IL QUOTIDIANO RADICALE - 8 December 1993)

The figures on the spread of the pandemic in the world and especially in Africa are far from encouraging, and go far beyond the estimates of the World Health Organization. The number of HIV-positive persons in the world is currently placed at 13 million. The HIV virus spreads in the world with a growth rate that corresponds to 5,000 new cases a day, half of which occur in Africa.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 7,5 million young people have been infected in Africa, of whom 4 million are women and more than 800,000 are children. Even more alarming is the speed at which the virus is now spreading. Today the World Health Organization calculates that there will be 15 million more HIV-positive people in Africa by the end of the century. These figures afford a clear picture of the tragic future of Africa, where fully two generations - aged between 25 and 45 - could be decimated.

Despite repeated appeals to solidarity on the industrialized and developing countries contained in several international agreements, there has been no explicit appeal to work towards a fair balance between these parts of the world: much of the aid that is currently allocated does not respect the identity and needs of these countries.