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June 26, 2030 -
The total number of deaths from
HIV/AIDS worldwide is now said to have passed 180 million
people, since it was recognized 50 years ago. The most infected
are to find in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
AIDS is the worst pandemic ever to have hit mankind, and have
caused more deaths than the Spanish Flu in 1918-1919 and the
Black Death in the 14th century combined. Well, you can add the
deaths caused directly by the two world wars during the 20th
century too, and AIDS will still outnumber them all. More than
half of the deaths from HIV originates from the sub-Saharan
Africa, where there now are 14% fewer inhabitants than it would
have been without the occurrence of AIDS.
Even though the deaths are tragic, living with the disease put a
lot of strain on the average household. The affected families
are losing income, as well as get higher expenditure for medical
treatment, which impoverish households even further in an
already poor part of the world. This forces many families to
reduce the consumption of food, which results in malnutrition
for all members of the family.
The efforts to raise awareness among the most affected
populations have been quite successful during the last decades,
as well as lowering the cost for the medicine needed to treat
the disease, but there is still no definite cure in sight.
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