Newest data: foreskins continue to spread AIDS through Africa

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Windi - 22 Dec 2008 20:08 GMT

The Population Reference burea (www.prb.org), in conjunction with the
Africa Population and Health Resource Center, has just published the
latest data on HIV in Africa. Africa had a long head start with HIV
before it spread to the rest of the world, and the mature epidemic
there reveals the importance of foreskins, or lack of them, in the
transmission of HIV, (The world HIV rate is 0.8; the African rate
is 4.0). Here are the latest HIV rates by region:

North Africa (virtually all circ)............. ..............0.3
West Africa (mixed circ and uncirc)..................2.5
Central Africa (mixed circ and uncirc)...............2.5
East Africa (mixed circ and uncirc)...................5.8
Southern Arica (mostly uncirc)................... ....18.5

The total African population is 967,000,000, of whom 66 percent live
on less than two dollars a day. Logistical and economic factors
make
the regular, lifelong use of condoms by this population impractical.
The World Health Organization therefore recommends circumcision as a
cost-effective, one-time intervention that could drastically reduce
HIV transmission in the affected countries. Of course, circumcision
would be only one of several strategies to combat HIV, but its proven
effectiveness makes it an essential element in the arsenal.

Reply to this Message

Martin - 31 Dec 2008 02:10 GMT

>The Population Reference burea (www.prb.org), in conjunction with the
>Africa Population and Health Resource Center, has just published the
>latest data on HIV in Africa. Africa had a long head start with HIV
>before it spread to the rest of the world...

I can understand why you'd think so, however HIVAIDS was
invented/discovered in the US, or was it France? I suppose that
depends on which version of HIVAIDS history you believe in.

HIVAIDS boffins now tell us the killer virus has been around for one
hundred years, or more, however it wasn't until a few fast living
faggots in the US got ill that anyone realised millions of people had
it in Africa.

>...and the mature epidemic
>there reveals the importance of foreskins, or lack of them, in the
>transmission of HIV, (The world HIV rate is 0.8; the African rate
>is 4.0).

Presumably that's a percentage? Not that it really matters.

According to <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population>: "As of
November 2008, the world's population is estimated to be about 6.7
billion."

0.8% of 6.7 billion people gives us 53,600,000 people. Sadly even
HIVAIDS enthusiasts now put an upper limit on their dire prediction of
HIVers at only 36.1 million, see
<http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm>.

Even that figure is complete guess-work. I suspect the number of
people, supposedly, diagnosed with HIV is significantly less than 10
million, and probably less than 5 million.

>Here are the latest HIV rates by region:
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>East Africa (mixed circ and uncirc)...................5.8
>Southern Arica (mostly uncirc)................... ....18.5

Only 5% of the population of South Africa has been tested for HIV, or
at least supposed HIV antibodies yet, as you suggest, over 18% of its
population is estimated to have HIV.

>The total African population is 967,000,000, of whom 66 percent live
>on less than two dollars a day. Logistical and economic factors
>make the regular, lifelong use of condoms by this population impractical.
>The World Health Organization therefore recommends circumcision as a
>cost-effective, one-time intervention that could drastically reduce
>HIV transmission in the affected countries.

We've already been over this. In Usenet article
<622.1220537086.20080904@hiv-poz.co.uk>, see
<http://www.hiv-poz.co.uk/articles/index.php?article=622.1220537086.20080904@hiv-
poz.co.uk>,
I compared HIV prevalence in several countries.

Here I present HIV prevalence in the US and elsewhere. UNAIDS
estimates, of course, for 2007 (15 to 49 year olds)
<http://data.unaids.org/pub/GlobalReport/2008/jc1510_2008_global_report_pp211_234
_en.pdf>:

USA: 0.6%

Latin America: 0.5%

Canada: 0.4%

India: 0.3%

North Africa and Middle East: 0.3%

Western and central Europe: 0.2% (most countries 0.1% or 0.2%)

Australia: 0.2%

Israel: 0.1%

China: 0.1%

Japan: <0.1%

I don't see any correlation between HIV and male circumcision.

Israel, where male circumcision is universal, has the same HIVAIDS
rate as many countries in Europe where circumcision is quite rare.
Male circumcision is common in the US, however it's HIV rate is three
times that of Europe.

Signature

<http://www.hiv-poz.co.uk/>
5,101 days and counting...

Reply to this Message