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20 January 2005: Programme Number 31

AFRICA LAGGING BEHIND BY MORE THAN 100 YEARS, HOW THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS SHOULD HELP,
HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA COMPARED TO THE TSUNAMI,
ERADICATING POLIO FROM AFRICA, THIS YEAR.

How Africa could miss the boat of world development by 100 years. But UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan remains optimistic: "The goals are not Utopian. They are eminently achievable." And the eminent Harvard economist, Jeffrey Sachs, says mosquito netting alone could save millions of lives in Africa.

And, how the world is neglecting Africa in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The UN’s special envoy on HIV/AIDS for Africa, Stephen Lewis, compares world response to Africa to the response given to the tsunamis disaster: "I ask the question as Africans are asking, why in heaven's name can we not get our debt reduced or eliminated as has been promised and tentatively reassured."

Plus, a group of African health ministers pledge to eradicate the crippling childhood disease, polio, by the end of this year. Can it be done?

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