From Africa Recovery, Vol.12#1 (August 1998), Briefs page
The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to have a devastating impact in Africa, with 21 million adults and children infected, or nearly 70 per cent of the world's estimated 30.6 million infected people, according to a report issued by the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The 10 countries with the highest rates of HIV infection among people aged 15-49 all are located in sub-Saharan Africa, with staggering figures for Zimbabwe (25.8 per cent) and Botswana (25.1 per cent), said the report, presented at the 12th Annual World AIDS Conference, held in Geneva from 28 June through 5 July 1998.
However, two African countries -- Uganda and Senegal -- stand in stark contrast to the overall trend, because their anti-AIDS programmes are resulting in falling HIV infection rates. Young people in Uganda and Senegal are much less susceptible to HIV infection than their counterparts elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, and health experts attribute that fact to the aggressive "safe sexual behaviour" campaign launched by both governments.
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