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Vendaval -> RE: Biological Attack expected in next 5 years (12/6/2008 3:50:51 AM)
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General Reply -
As regards the social and economic costs of AIDS/HIV here is an official statement from the U.S. State Department.
"Seventy-five percent of those living with HIV/AIDS are in sub-Saharan Africa. The pandemic is changing the demographic structure of Africa and wiping out life expectancy gains. In many African countries, life expectancy is dropping from more than 60 years to around 45 years. In Botswana, it has dropped to 39; without AIDS, it is estimated to have been 72 years.
The estimates of the impact of HIV/AIDS on economic growth rates vary but the trend is clear. A World Bank researcher estimated that the average 0.4% per capita income growth rates Africa achieved in 1990-1997 would have been 1.1% per year without HIV/AIDS. In countries with prevalence rates around 20%, the effect is more dire; GDP growth rates will be about 2.6% less than they would have been without the epidemic.
While the long-term effect of the pandemic is not known, studies to date paint a grim picture. According the to the World Bank, "Labor productivity is likely to drop, the benefits of education will be lost, and resources that would have been used for investments will be used for health care, orphan care, and funerals. Savings rates will decline, and the loss of human capital will affect production and the quality of life for years to come." By 2005, South Africa, for example, is projected to lose 11% of its workforce to AIDS; Zimbabwe nearly 20%."
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2002/13227.htm
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