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 "It was said that an estimated three million Ethiopians have been exposed to the disease, with over 600,000 children made orphans and one third of Ethiopia's hospital beds used by carriers of the virus." - Situation Report for Ethiopia April 1999. UN Country Team Ethiopia.

In the West, AIDS has evolved in the minds of the general population from a mysterious and lethal disease of a minority to one that is ubiquitous in its presence, pervasive in its spread yet "manageable". However, for much of the developing world, the AIDS epidemic has been a silent crisis devoid of hysteria or vocalized alarm. AIDS continues to generate fear, misinformation and inevitably death. The developing world has been particularly ineffective in its response to the AIDS epidemic. It has been unable to launch the same rigorous campaigns against AIDS that have helped fight the disease in the West. Though campaigns in Africa have been implemented, their effect has been negligible. The new medicines that, in the West, have been effective in "controlling" HIV, are costly and largely unavailable to African AIDS patients.

Ethiopia, much like the rest of Africa, is fighting a seemingly losing battle against the AIDS epidemic. With nearly three million people infected with the HIV virus, limited resources and a lack of effective medicines, Ethiopia faces a daunting task. 

However, this past November, Ethiopia was host to the first annual International Conference on AIDS in Ethiopia. The conference was co-sponsored by the Harvard AIDS Institute and W.E. DuBois Institute in conjunction with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health. Conferences such as this one show that immediacy of the issue is acknowledged and that there is willingness for open discourse.

A National HIV/AIDS Prevention Control Council has also been established in Ethiopia.

On top of our list for recommended reading is the Harvard AIDS Review: AIDS in Africa - Fall 1999/Winter 2000. Articles include "AIDS in Africa: A Regional Overview", "HIV Prevention Strategies in Africa", "Economic Impact of AIDS in Africa", and "HIV Vaccine Development". To read these articles, click here.