AFRICA: Lifespan cut by HIV/AIDS pandemic

JOHANNESBURG, 19 Dec 2003 (PLUSNEWS) - Life expectancy in many parts of Africa is falling due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

In its annual World Health Report, the WHO said HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death for people aged between 15 and 59, reducing the life expectancy of adults in most of southern Africa by at least 20 years.

In his introduction to the report, WHO director general, Dr. Jong Wook Lee, said: "In some parts of the world there is a continued expectation of longer and more comfortable life, while in many others there is despair over the failure to control disease though the means to do so exist."

Lee warned of a "growing gulf" in the standard of health care and said 2004 was an "acid test" of world moral commitment to Africa.

[ENDS]