Notes...

* AIDS has killed twenty-five million people since it first emerged in the early 1980s-more deaths than occurred in World Wars I and 2
* Every minute five people die of AIDS; every day 8,000 people die from AIDS
* There are approximately fourteen million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS
* At current rates, 100 million people worldwide will be infected with HIV by 2010
* Of the 14,000 new people infected every day, 85% live in the develop¬ing world
* In Botswana, nearly four in ten adults are infected
* Eastern Europe is experiencing the fastest-growing AIDS epidemic in the world
* Former Secretary of State Colin Powell called HIV/AIDS the most serious threat to humankind and "the greatest weapon of mass destruction on earth."

* 30 million people in Africa are HIV-positive, most of them young men and women. (The Economist, 2003)
* 75% of the world total of those with HIV/AIDS live in Africa. (The Economist, 2002)
* 20% of South Africans aged 15-49 are infected with HIV. (UNAIDS Fact Sheet, 2002)
* For those aged 15-34 in South Africa, it is estimated that there will be 17 times as many deaths in the years 2010-2015 because of AIDS. (UNAIDS Fact Sheet, 2002)
* It is estimated that in five years, HIV prevalence in South Africa will be between 25-30%. (The Natal Witness, 2003)
* Because of AIDS, life expectancy for women will be 37 years of age in 2010. (Pretoria News, 2002)
* Almost 30% of South Africa's workforce will be HIV-positive in 2005. (Pretoria News, 2002)
* South Africa's economically active population will be 35% lower in 2015 than it would have been if South Africans had remained AIDS-free. (Pretoria News, 2002)
*"The pandemic will take a dramatic toll on the most productive members of the population — those in their 20s, 30s and 40s." (MG-Levy Annual Report, 2002)
*"A recent study predicted that unless the government moved quickly to tackle AIDS, South Africa's economy would collapse within four generations." (The Economist, 2004)
*Among the many ways that [AIDS] is destabilizing the continent [of Africa], perhaps the most worrying is the exploding population of orphans." (The Economist, 2002)
*By 2010, there will be 42 million orphans in Africa, half due to AIDS. (The Economist, 2002)
*In 2002, it was estimated that 660,000 children had been orphaned because of AIDS in South Africa. (UNAIDS Fact Sheet, 2002)
*By 2010, there will be 2 million orphans in South Africa and 70% of them will be HIV-free. (SAFM, 2004)