About 30m people in sub-Saharan Africa were living with HIV/Aids at the end of 2002, according to the United Nations body that deals with the pandemic, UNAids. The epidemic threatens to undermine the economies of African countries, societies and security, with average life expetancy in some countries falling to 35 because of Aids.
Delegates at the 13th international conference on HIV/Aids and sexually transmitted diseases taking place in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, have been giving their views about the difficulties of combating HIV/Aids.
Aids is really hitting the Maasai people hard because they are illiterate and they still believe it is a curse and not a disease. When our men travel to Nairobi to sell cattle, they get a lot of money and sleep with many women and they bring the disease to the villages... the disease is real. Susan Seela Maasai.
Those people who are HIV positive are our relatives, some of them are so weak that they can not work, so they should be given free drugs because we are the ones who help them and we sometimes cannot afford it. They need help from the government. Moses Ndirangu, a delegate representing the youth
I think what they should come up with is how to sponsor the women organisations which are basically taking care of people who have Aids or orphans. Financial help to women should be a major issue to be address at the conference. Faith Mwikali, a Kenyan commenting on expectations at the conference
I would of course wish that this would go beyond the other conferences where we would just meet, have a chat, take some drinks and just go back to business as usual. Dr Musa Nyadusi, who works for an organisation that helps treat the opportunistic diseases which attack Aids sufferers.
Time has come for people to confess that they are Aids victims... This will help a lot because some people still think the disease does not exist. Rich people and prominent politicians are dying, sometimes its so clear that they were HIV positive but this is not disclosed. It will really help if people are honest about it. Fatma Omar, an observer from Nigeria.
I have been dealing with Aids-related issues for long now, and I think, it is time that women were supported. They are the ones who go through the trouble helping their sick husbands and orphans. It is time that the funds collected were directed towards supporting initiatives by women. This will be a great thing towards the fight against Aids. Paula Donovan, co-ordinator of the International Women Run against Aids
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version