IJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

Public Health Ministry Plans AIDS Measures for
Burmese

90WE0333B Bangkok THE NATION in English
5 Aug 90 p2

[Text] The Public Health Ministry plans to take to the
airwaves in its battle against AIDS among Burmese
fishermen in the southern province of Ranong, a senior
ministry official said.

Theera Ramasoota, Director General of the Communi-
cable Diseases Control Department, said on Friday the
ministry would produce cassette tapes in Burmese with
tips on AIDS prevention for broadcast through the
Ranong Fishery Radio Center to trawlers at sea.

The programme aims to control the spread of Acquired
Immune Deficiency Syndrome among Burmese fish-
ermen who form a major labor force for the fishing
industry in the province, according to Theera.

He said the planned anti-AIDS campaign was initiated
after blood tests on 951 Burmese fishermen in Ranong in
the past four months found that about 4 percent of them
had contracted the virus that causes AIDS.

Theera said ministry officials also found during recent
talks with Burmese fishermen and prostitutes in Ranong
that most were intravenous drug users and never used
condoms while having sex.

Both practices are considered to increase the risk of
contracting the AIDS virus.

The Public Health Ministry will distribute anti-AIDS
brochures to Burmese fishermen as part of the campaign,
he said.

The president of the Ranong Fishery Association,
according to Thera, will also help draw the attention of
Burmese to the anti-AIDS campaign by forming a
musical band of Burmese fishermen which would per-
form once a month in the province.

He said the ministry is cooperating with immigration
officials in conducting blood tests for AIDS on Burmese
entering Thailand in Ranong. Those found infected with
the AIDS virus will be repatriated. Theera added.

Measures To Fight AIDS

90WE0333A Bangkok THE NATION in English
16 Aug 90 p 38

[Excerpt] For years, AIDS was considered an imported
disease and not a real threat. The first identified case—a
Thai homosexual who had been living in the United
States—was reported in 1984. In 1988, the problem was
rudely brought home when sample surveys in Bangkok
showed that HIV infections were racing through groups
of intravenous drug users. Until that time, AIDS had
been officially played down out of concern for its poten-
tially negative impact on tourism, Thailand’s biggest
source of foreign exchange.

fn

EAST ASIA 15

The HIV epidemic in Thailand is still at relatively early
stage (there were only 37 full-blown AIDS cases reported
as of March 1990). But a combination of factors,
including one of the highest per capita rates of intrave-
nous drug use in Asia and in lively sex industry, makes it
a potential time-bomb. More than three-quarters of the
known infected persons in Thailand are intravenous
drug users scattered throughout every province, shooting
heroin and often sharing infected needles. But with
increasing sexual transmission, there is mounting evi-
dence that the virus is creeping into the general popula-
tion as well.

Today, according to the latest government figures, there
are 15,000 reported cases of persons infected with the
HIV virus in Thailand. The number of actual carriers is
projected at around 50,000. Population expert Mechai
Viravaidya says that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and
that the number could easily be ten times as high.

What alarms health workers most is the rate at which
AIDS has spread. From February 1987 to September
1988, HIV infections shot up from four percent to 42
percent among intravenous drug users. Infection among
female sex workers, particularly in poorer northern
regions, has been a cause for deep concern. One study in
the northern city of Chiang Mai turned up an overall
positive rate of 43 percent among female prostitutes,
soaring to 72 percent among the lowest-paid women.

In June 1988, a national programme for the prevention
and control of AIDS was launched under the general
policy framework of WHO’s Global Programme on
AIDS. Now in its third year, the Thai effort has attracted
more than $10.8 million (Bt270 million) from the gov-
ernment and 11 international sources. After the Govern-
ment of Thailand, the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) is the second largest donor, con-
tributing $1.9 million (Bt47.5 million) to date.

Working through a sophisticated Thai public health
system, this ambitious anti-AIDS campaign has already
made an impact. Country-wide surveys are undertaken
twice a year. A vigorous programme of voluntary testing
has reached more than three million people according to
one Ministry of Health official. All of the country’s
200,000 health workers will have completed specialized
training on AIDS by the end of this year. AIDS informa-
tion is now part of all secondary school curricula. An
intensive awareness campaign through radio, television,
posters, exhibits, publications and other mass media
continues to spread the word on what AIDS is and how
to prevent it.

There are signs that the message is getting through.
Contrary to expectations, the rate of infection among
drug users and homosexuals has reached a plateau. Over
the course of last year, the incidence of sexually trans-
mitted diseases decreased by seven percent, presumably
the result of increased condom use.

The permissive, non-judgmental attitude which is char-
acteristic of the Thais is playing a role in fighting the



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IJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

Prisons Services public relations directorate chief Briga-
dier Erica van Zyl said in July this year there were 48
AIDS-carrying prisoners in SA, 17 of them at Pollsmoor.
Seven of the Pollsmoor AIDS victims were security
prisoners.

Official Cites ‘Alarming’ Increase in AIDS

MB2009163090 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1547 GMT 20 Sep 90

[Text] Durban—More than 100 new AIDS cases—
including infants—are being identified in Natal every
month while there are now up to 10 AIDS patients in
King Edward VIII Hospital at any one time and several
deaths each month.

These ever-spiralling figures were revealed on Thursday
[20 September] by Natal’s member of the national AIDS
advisory group, Prof Denis Pudifin, who described the
increase in numbers of infected heterosexual blacks as
“alarming”.

He says there are now 2,140 known AIDS-carriers (HIV-
infected people) in Natal, but this reflects only the tip of
the iceberg, as there are many healthy carriers who have
not been tested and who are unaware that they are in fact
AIDS-carriers.

It is believed that more than one percent of the Natal/
kwaZulu black population (estimated to be at least six
million people) are now HIV-infected, which means that
there are probably at least 100,000 HIV-infected people
living in the province.

The head of the national AIDS advisory group and South
Africa’s recognised AIDS expert from the South African
Institute of Medical Research, Dr Ruben Sher said on
Thursday that the AIDS situation in South Africa could
be even worse than the situation in AIDS-ravaged neigh-
bouring African states.

“I think the South African AIDS situation could be even
worse than in other African countries because of the
mobility of blacks in South Africa (black taxis), the
migration system, violence (which increases the inci-
dence of rape) and vast unemployment which leaves
people with nothing else to do other than have random
sex, the closure of black schools (which encourages sex
among teenagers) and other cultural factors,” said Dr
Sher.

Dr Sher said that ignorance, denial and a resistance to
changing people’s’sexual habits were also major contrib-
uting factors in the spread of AIDS in this country.
HIV-infection in the gay community had “‘petered out
almost completely because of their co-operation and
caution”, but the spread was just beginning in the black
heterosexual population, he said.

The secretary for health in kwaZulu, Dr Daryl Hackland
said: “We have reached the stage where the escalation
curve is almost vertical. The situation worsens by the
day.”

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 9

According to Prof Pudifin, slightly more women than
men are being identified as HIV positive with an
increasing number of children—up to four a month—
who have congenitally acquired AIDS from their
mothers.

“AIDS is rapidly worsening in the heterosexual popula-
tion, which is what was expected—and there is no
indication of any slowing down. The ever-rising figures
are alarming. Education programmes are obviously not
having any real impact and more than ever community-
based organisations and companies need to educate their
own people,” said Dr Pudifin.

Health Department Issues Report on AIDS

MBO0110200490 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1943 GMT 1 Oct 90

[Text] Pretoria—Altogether 499 AIDS cases, in which
299 people died, have occurred in South Africa since
1982, according to the Department of National Health
and Population Development.

Ina report based on anonymous data supplied by the SA
[South African] Institute for Medical Research and
released in Pretoria, the department said the two cases
and two deaths registered in 1982 had increased in 1990
to 169 cases and 32 deaths for the first eight months
ending on 21 September.

The department added that from August 10 this year it
would release routine AIDS table on South African cases
only. Details of people who came to the country for
diagnosis and/or treatment for AIDS, or who fell ill while
visiting the republic, would be available on request.

It said the highest incidence of the disease, according to
age and sex, had occurred in the 30-39 age group—131
males and 23 females. Thirty children—19 boys and 11
girls up to nine years old—had also contracted the
disease.

The most cases were reported in Johannesburg (194
cases and 117 deaths), followed by Cape Town (81 and
46), Durban (78 and 19), kwaZulu (26 and 0) and
Pretoria (20 and 15). Towns with only one case reported
and no deaths include Boksburg, Bushbuckridge, Carle-
tonville, Daveyton, Krugersdorp, Orkney, Pietersburg,
Kimberley, Estcourt, Ladybrand and Upington.

Of the 499 total cases reported, whites accounted for 271
men and seven women, blacks for 100 men and 100
women, “coloureds” for 13 men and four women, and
Asians for four men. The majority of whites were homo-
sexual or bisexual men (244).

Official Says National AIDS Cases Exceed 500

MB0310211990 Johannesburg Domestic Service
in English 1900 GMT 3 Oct 90

[Text] The official number of AIDS victims in South
Africa has risen to more than 500. Forty-four cases were
reported since June.



SJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

1,612 cases. It ranks seventh in terms of incidence, with
29.1 cases in every group of 100,000 inhabitants. It is
followed, in absolute numbers, by Porto Alegre, with 359
AIDS cases.

Of the 12,405 AIDS cases reported to the ministry, 435
were detected in children, 1,032 in women, and 10,938
in men. Half of the victims (6,230) have already died.

150,000 AIDS Cases Projected by 1995

Incidence to Surpass Africa

90WE0334A Sao Paulo O ESTADO DE SAO PAULO
in Portuguese 29 Aug 90 p 13

[Text] Brasilia—By 1995 Brazil will have between
100,000 and 150,000 AIDS patients, according to pro-
jections by the Ministry of Health. “The number of cases
has been rising progressively and we could surpass the
high rates registered in African countries as soon as next
year,” Eduardo Cortes, director of the AIDS Division of
the Health Ministry, warned yesterday.

Cortes is awaiting the allocation of funding to initiate
educational campaigns which will address the social and
economic costs of the disease. “AIDS could become the
country’s greatest public health problem,” he said.

“We lost the chance to control the disease five years ago,
when the number of cases was still small, but very little
was invested in awareness and in the control of blood
transfusions, for example,” Cortes lamented. This year
AIDS will be included among the 11 diseases given
combat priority in the country, it has been announced by
Health Minister Alceni Guerra. The ministry estimates
that Brazil will have 20,000 new AIDS cases next year
and 25,000 new cases will be registered in 1992. There
will be 32,000 new cases in 1993 and 41,000 in 1994,
Cortes is basing his projection on 1988 figures. In that
year, it was estimated that as many as 500,000 people
were infected with the virus, although they were not yet
showing any symptoms.

According to AIDS statistics worldwide, 30 percent of
those infected with the virus develop the disease in seven
years and 50 percent take from nine to 10 years to
present the first symptoms. “Even if we succeeded in
halting the infection today, we would still have thou-
sands of AIDS cases to attend in the future,” Cortes said.

By Cortes’ reckoning, if Brazil has 150,000 cases and
spends $10,000 per patient (1/4 what the U.S. Govern-
ment spends), it will require $1.5 billion to assist the
victims. “AIDS is an extremely costly disease and inter-
feres with the productivity of a country,” Cortes
declared.

The director of the AIDS Division admits that the
interruption of the AIDS campaigns—which have been
suspended since last year—has led to diminished interest
in prevention of the disease. “People are still thinking
only in terms of registered cases (12,405) and not of the

LATIN AMERICA 19

number of cases of infection,” Cortes said. Once the
funding is defined, the AIDS Division will initiate a
series of systematic campaigns, covering all the conse-
quences of the disease, and will also work to see that the
health system makes more beds available for AIDS
patients. The AIDS Division is negotiating with the
CEME (Central Enterprise for Medicines) to import
basic medicines to treat opportunistic infections; their
purchase depends on the liberation of funds.

Lab May Produce AZT
90WE0334B Sao Paulo O ESTADO DE SAO PAULO
in Portuguese 29 Aug 90 p 13

[Text] Porto Alegre—In two years, Brazil could be pro-
ducing AZT (the only medicine proven effective against
AIDS) at a lower cost than that of importing the drug
from the United States. According to Assis Pedro Pic-
cini, director of the Rio Grande do Sul State Pharma-
ceutical Laboratory, the laboratory has completed the
research project and has not begun to produce the
medicine simply because it has yet to obtain the needed
$130,000.

“We have attempted to get funding from the Health
Ministry, but there was no interest,” Piccini said. “There
is not much chance of obtaining it from the Rio Grande
do Sul State government because of the huge number of
requisitions in other areas.” The alternative now is to
seek assistance from the World Health Organization or
the Rio Grande so Sul Foundation for Support to
Research, which will begin to receive 1.5 percent of the
net revenue of the state, starting next year.

Piccini explained that the manufacture of AZT is not
patented and the production process is in the public
domain. “The medicine has not been produced in Brazil
up to now because, given the cost of production and the
necessary research, it does not offer a quick profit,”
Piccini believes. The process of synthesizing AZT—
about 42 chemical reactions—will make it possible to
obtain products used as ingredients in refined chemistry
and in other types of medicines.

Rising Incidence in Roraima

90WE0334C Sao Paulo O ESTADO DE SAO PAULO
in Portuguese 29 Aug 90 p 13

[Text] Brasilia—With 9.8 cases for every 1,000 inhabit-
ants, Roraima already stands third among Brazilian
states in the incidence of AIDS, according to Eduardo
Cortes, director of the AIDS Division of the Health
Ministry. Cortes will go to Roraima in September to
analyze the causes of the growth of the disease in the
state. “We are concerned because the invasion of the
gold prospectors is bringing drugs and prostitution into
the region,” he said.

Cortes also plans to investigate allegations by the State
Office of AIDS Coordination that traffickers are using
AIDS victims to transport drugs, taking advantage of
police fears of contamination in the process of arresting



JPRS-TEP-90-016
30 October 1990 4 AIDS

FINLAND

Paper Warns of Complacency Toward AIDS
Increase in HIV Infections {HELSINKI HELSINGIN SANOMAT, 9 Aug 90]
Youth Especial Concern [Helsinki HELSINGIN SANOMAT, 12 Aug 90] ...

Researchers on Prospects for Combating AIDS

[Jouni Tervo; Helsinki SUOMEN KUVALEHTI, 10 Aug 90] ....

ITALY

26

HIV Test for High-Risk Cases Developed [Paula Tisicornia; Milan ITALIA OGGI, 12 Jul 90] ..... 29
SWEDEN

Growth In Number Of New HIV Cases Increases ..... . 30
254 New Cases In 1989 [Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER, 3 Aug 90]... . 30
20-25 Cases Monthly [Sabine Romer; Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER, 2 Aug 90] . 30
Forced Quarantine Confirmed Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER, 3 Aug 90] . 3
SWITZERLAND
Statistics Published on Total Reported AIDS Cases
[Geneva JOURNAL DE GENEVE, 29 Aug 90] 1... . 31

‘Health Bus’ To Complement Sanctioned Shooting Galeries
{Geneva JOURNAL DE GENEVE, 16 Aug 90] ...



30 WEST EUROPE

scientific community, and perhaps a recommendation to
this effect from the National Commission on AIDS.

The researchers’ work is now focusing on discovering the
origin and exact composition of this substance. Their
studies might further extend the usefulness of this dis-
covery from AIDS to the cancer field. “‘As well as breast
cancer,” the experts explain, “this protein is also present
in other types of tumor, for example lung or intestinal
tumors. High levels of 90 K might show the doctor which
patients are most at risk, the patients whose tumors are
most likely to be more aggressive and recur shortly after
treatment or surgery.

SWEDEN

Growth In Number Of New HIV Cases Increases

254 New Cases In 1989

90WE0284A Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER
in Swedish 3 Aug 90 p 5

[Article: “AIDS And HIV Continue To Advance”]

[Text] More and more Swedes are contracting AIDS. In
1989, 122 HIV-infected people contracted the disease,
compared to 85 in 1988.

“We see a clear increase,” said Soren Carlsson of the

Noah’s Ark Foundation, a support organization for

AIDS victims and HIV-positive persons.

The figures on those who have contracted AIDS come
from SBL, the State Bacteriological Laboratory. In 1987,
78 people who had tested positive to HIV developed
AIDS and in 1988 the increase was insignificant. Last
year, however, 122 people in Sweden developed the
disease.

According to Soren Carlsson, general manager of Noah’s
Ark, the increase was expected. Those who were infected
with HIV during the early eighties, when the infection
began to spread, have now begun to develop AIDS.

“We see this trend in the United States, which is several
years ahead of us. An enormous number of people there
now have HIV-related illnesses,” he told TT [TIDNIN-
GARNAS TELEGRAMBYRA].

Living Longer

It takes 10, perhaps 15 years for an HIV-infected person
to develop AIDS. In Sweden, doctors diagnose a case of
AIDS every three days, while in New York a case is
diagnosed every 14 minutes.

According to Soren Carlsson, however, AIDS patients
now live longer than they did a few years ago. Pneu-
monia, which was previously the cause of death in many
AIDS cases, can now be treated successfully. Instead,
many die of cancer.

IJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

The increase in the number of AIDS cases is obvious to
those who work at Noah’s Ark.

“We must change the way we work, do more practical
work in the home, and provide more psychological
support,” Soren Carlsson said.

According to the SBL statistics, 254 new HIV cases were
detected in 1989. That may seem to be a reduction from
previous years, particularly compared to 1985 when 757
new HIV cases were diagnosed.

Misleading

These figures are completely misleading, according to
Soren Carlsson. New testing methods were developed in
1985, so that doctors could detect the HIV virus in cases
that previously could not be diagnosed. For this reason,
the statistics for 1985 and the subsequent few years are
inflated.

“What we have today is a continued spreading of the
disease, not a leveling off. We have noted a drop in the
lower age groups, particularly among young girls,” he
said.

20-25 Cases Monthly

90WE0284b Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER
in Swedish 2 Aug 90 p 6

{Article by Sabine Romer: “Law Increased Prostitu-
tion’”]

[Text] The so-called sauna law is not working. The
police, prosecuting attorneys, and RFSL, the National
Association for Sexual Equality, all agree. Instead,
homosexual male prostitution on the street has
increased.

Now many people, led by former epidemiological physi-
cian Johan Giesecke, want the law abolished.

The sauna club law was passed three years ago following
reports that the HIV virus was being spread among
homosexual men at sauna clubs. According to the law, it
is now prohibited to “arrange general meetings or events
at an establishment that is specifically intended to facil-
itate sexual intercourse among the visitors.” The law has
been used only two times since it took effect in 1987.

It is true that some of the sauna clubs disappeared.
Others changed their name and limited their activities to
showing pornographic films. According to police, how-
ever, some of these video clubs have once again become
places for quick sexual contacts between homosexual
and bisexual men.

Unwilling Witnesses

Both prosecuting attorneys and the police with whom
DAGENS NYHETER spoke point to several factors that
make it difficult to invoke this law. The police report



16 EAST ASIA

disease. In general, health workers are trusted and have
ready access to addicts and commercial sex workers.
Through all of the city’s 87 drug rehabilitation centers,
bleach is provided to addicts to sterilize needles, and an
information campaign is reaching the poorest of the poor
in Bangkok’s slums.

More than 19 million condoms have been distributed
free by the Ministry of Health. Its mobile teams, which
will eventually travel to all parts of the country, are now
visiting Bangkok’s nightclubs and bars with graphic
audiovisual presentations on the deadly disease. Even
Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn has personally
taken on the cause of AIDS.

Health Official Updates AIDS Figures by Risk
Group

90WE0342A Bangkok BAN MUANG in Thai 16 Aug 90
pp 1,20

[Excerpts] [passage omitted] Dr. Somsak Warakhamin,
the Undersecretary of Public Health, told reporters that
there was a report concerning the AIDS situation in
Thailand from 1984 to 31 July 1990 indicating that there
had been a total of 20,218 cases of people with the AIDS
virus in Thailand. Of these 16,990 had been male and
3,428 had been female. They had generally been of
reproductive age between 15 and 39—these had made up
91 percent of the AIDS cases. There had been 45 who
had been sick with AIDS, and there had been 167 who
had had the AIDS related complex. There had been
20,006 with the AIDS virus who had shown no symp-
toms. There were 10 who were sick with AIDS who were
still alive. [passage omitted]

He also said that four more patients had been reported
with the AIDS related complex, making a total of 167
who had the AIDS related complex. Of these 144 had
been male; there had been 16 cases resulting from
homosexual activity, eight from bisexual activity, 44
from heterosexual activity, 65 from intravenous drug
use, three from blood transfusions, and eight from
unknown causes. Of the 23 cases involving females 18
had resulted from heterosexual activity, two from intra-
venous drug use, one from a blood transfusion, and two

IJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

from unknown causes. There were 142 with the AIDS
related complex who were still alive.

Dr. Somsak said that those with the AIDS virus who
showed no symptoms had increased by 714. This made a
total of 20,006 cases reported. Of these 16,609 had been
male; there had been 72 cases resulting from homosexual!
activity, 98 from bisexual activity, 1,389 from hetero-
sexual activity, 13,236 from intravenous drug use, 16
from blood transfusions, and 1,798 from unknown
causes. Of the 3,397 cases involving females, 2,709 had
resulted from heterosexual activity, 506 from intrave-
nous drug use, 12 from drug transfusions, and 110 from
unknown causes. There were 19,870 in Thailand with
the AIDS virus but showing no symptoms who were still
alive. There were five children under four with the AIDS
virus. Of these two were male and three were female.
[passage omitted]

Figures Given on HIV Positive Hilltribe
Prostitutes

BK0110025290 Bangkok BANGKOK POST in English
1 Oct 90 pI

{Text] Tourists with a liking for hilltribe prostitutes are
warned they have a greater chance of catching AIDS
because of the high infection rate among the girls.

Mr Ong-art Klampaibul, secretary to Public Health
Minister Marut Bunnag, who issued the warning, said
yesterday recent blood tests from 220 hilltribe prosti-
tutes in the north showed 158 of them were HIV posi-
tive—71.8 percent.

A breakdown of the findings is as follows: seven out of 25
tested HIV positive in Phayao; two out of two tested
positive in Mae Hong Son; 14 out of 37 in Lamphun; five
out of five in Lampang; 67 out of 67 in Chiang Rai and
63 out of 67 in the 10th Zone Venereal Diseases Control
Centre which covers both Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.

Of the 220 girls tested, 71 were Muser, 58 Akka, 29 Thai
Yai, 18 Yao, 8 Lisu, 4 Karen, one Hmong and 31 hill
people of undermined tribes.

Mr Ong-art said tourists from Taiwan and Hong Kong
and some Thai men appear to prefer to look for sex with
hilltribe girls, believing they are clean and free from
AIDS.



2 NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA

PAKISTAN

Article Reports on AIDS Epidemic

90WE0338A Islamabad THE MUSLIM in English
18 Aug 90 p8

[Article by Mujtaba Akhter: “Alarming Spread of AIDS
in Pakistan”)
{Text] AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome),

the deadly disease, unknown till few years back has
assumed an alarming proportion in Pakistan.

Official sources say that the number of AIDS patients
had shot up from 37 to 57, which they thought was an
alarming portent. Experts are of the opinion that the
reported cases represent only a tip of iceberg. The
number of those carrying AIDS virus is much higher
than the reported one.

Just 3 months earlier, there were 50 AIDS patients of
whom 13 died.

The virus after infection takes 5 to 7 years to develop
into AIDS, experts say, and weakens part of the body’s
natural immune system.

SPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

The first sign of the trouble is the appearance of anti-
bodies to the AIDS virus in the bloodstream, usually 1 to
3 months after infection. Its virus is probably one of the
most fragile ones ever identified, because it cannot
survive for long outside the body.

A senior Health Ministry officer said “getting more
blood transfusion obviously increases a patients’ risk of
contracting AIDS. [quotations as received]

The Federal Government, he said, is planning to import
special type of syringes to be used during the transfusion
of blood.

Another unfortunate factor is the use of contaminated
bloods acquired often from the professional blood
donors. All the provincial governments had been asked
to take steps against such blood donors which the experts
thought were a constant source of promoting AIDS.

AIDS virus, which is called HIV, stimulates the produc-
tion of particular antibodies that can be detected in the
blood of an infected person. Such a person is labelled
HIV and can transmit the virus to others.



18 LATIN AMERICA

ARGENTINA

AIDS Foundation Contests Government Statistics

PY1709010090 Buenos Aires BUENOS AIRES
HERALD in English 15 Sep 90 p 7

[Text] Some 50,000 Argentines have contracted AIDS
(Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), the Argen-
tine AIDS Foundation said yesterday. The foundation
said that a government report claiming only 710 AIDS
cases in the country does not take into account the large
amount of unreported cases. The foundation said the
price of AIDS testing must be reduced from its present
30 dollars to seven dollars. It also said it is trying to
import the anti-AIDS drug AZT from Great Britain.

BRAZIL

Government To Launch AIDS Awareness
Campaign

90WE0319E Sao Paulo FOLHA DE SAO PAULO
in Portuguese 2 Aug 90 p C-7

[Text] Brasilia—The Ministry of Health is preparing an
AIDS Awareness Campaign, which will be carried
through the media in the second half of this year.
According to Eduardo Cortes, 34, director of the Health
Ministry’s Department of Sexually Transmitted Dis-
eases, the campaign will be continuous. “It will not end
until the day that AIDS is under control,” Cortes said.

The cost of the campaign has not yet been estimated. The
ministry’s budget, which is in the final phase of revision,
will be revealed on 8 September. In addition to its
educational nature, the campaign seeks to demonstrate
the social and economic consequences of the epidemic.

It has been 15 months since the Health Ministry has had
a national AIDS prevention campaign that was contin-
uous and reached the entire population. At this moment
in Brazil, the disease has reached a stage that health
technicians consider critical. The number of AIDS-
infected heterosexuals, women, and children is
increasing and transmission through intravenous drug
use is becoming more frequent.

According to epidemiologist Caio Rosenthal, 41, “the
situation is critical, the population is misinformed, and
the repercussions of the government’s negligence will be
strongly felt within a short time.” According to
Rosenthal, there is no political will to confront the
problem. “Investment in AIDS does not pay off politi-
cally, with the voters, and so the problem is ignored,” he
declared.

Nelson Solano, 38, director of the AIDS Support and
Prevention Group (GAPA), said that “the Collor admin-
istration is not doing anything about the problem,
although the situation was not very different during the
Sarney administration.” According to Solano, all the
federal AIDS prevention programs “inherited by the

SJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

present administration, which were already in bad
shape, have been abandoned and nothing has been done
up to now.”

Solano declared that the campaigns conducted in pre-
vious years “failed to reach a large part of the popula-
tion, because they used language that was unintelligible
to the masses; furthermore, they were aired on television
late at night, when most people were already asleep.” In
the opinion of Paulo Cesar Bonfim, president of the
GAPA [expansion not given] and PT-SP [Workers Party-
Sao Paulo] candidate for federal deputy, “this omission
is a crime against those who are contracting the disease
because they are uninformed.”

513 Children With AIDS

Brazil stands second in the world in the number of
children carrying the AIDS virus, contracted through
their mothers. The United States is in first place. In
Brazil, of a total of 11,000 diagnosed cases of AIDS, 513
are children, according to figures presented yesterday
during the international congress on maternal-infantile
AIDS, in Sao Paulo. Representatives of 14 countries are
attending the congress, which will end on Friday.

Cities With Highest AIDS Incidence Cited

90WE344B Rio de Janeiro O GLOBO in Portuguese
18 Aug 90 p8&

[Text] Brasilia—Last month the Health Ministry
recorded 508 new cases of AIDS, causing the number of
victims identified in the country between 1980 and 1990
to rise to 12,405.

The Sao Paulo capital has the largest absolute number of
AIDS cases: 5,371; but it is the city of Santos that shows
the highest coefficient of incidence of the disease: 95
AIDS cases out of every group of 100,000 inhabitants.

Ministry specialists report that the coefficient of inci-
dence is the most important indicator from a public
health standpoint, because it shows the proportion of
victims in one particular population. They note that, in
Brazil, the average incidence of AIDS is 9.3 cases per
group of 100,000 inhabitants.

The highest coefficients of incidence of the disease are
concentrated in six Sao Paulo cities: Santos, Sao Paulo,
Sao Jose dos Campos, Guaruja, Ribeirao Preto, and Sao
Vicente. The Sao Paulo capital has 5,371 cases, and an
incidence of 54.3 cases per group of 100,000 inhabitants.
Sao Jose do Rio Preto has a coefficient of 44.9 cases per
100,000 inhabitants (100 cases); in Guaruja, the index
identified is 38.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (71
cases); in Ribeirao Preto, there are 36.4 cases per
100,000 inhabitants (137 cases); and in Sao Vicente, the
coefficient is 32.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (77
cases).

Rio de Janeiro occupies second place in the country
(ranking first is the Sao Paulo capital) in absolute num-
bers of AIDS cases recorded during the past decade, with



SJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

that it is extremely difficult to carry out surveillance at
the clubs and to find people who are willing to serve as
witnesses,

Every month 20 to 25 new cases of HIV infection are
reported. About half these cases are homosexual males.

“I believe that is a disturbingly high figure. If there are
open clubs that are centrally located, it is easier to make
quick sexual contacts and that is unsatisfactory from an
epidemiological standpoint,” epidemiological physician
Per Lundbergh said.

But George Sved, who is in charge of education at the
National Association for Sexual Equality, RFSL, ques-
tions the assertion that the clubs are largely responsible
for the spread of the disease.

Prostitution Increasing

He pointed out that the only results of the law had been
the establishment of illegal sex clubs and an increase in
homosexual male prostitution. This simply has made it
more difficult to distribute information on safe sex.

He had heard of only one illegal club.

No one has accurate information on how widespread the
male prostitution has become. George Sved estimates,
however, that there are about 15 male prostitutes in
Stockholm today. Social agencies in Goteborg have
found five men who are prostitutes.

Some of the prostitutes are foreign men who visit Stock-
holm during the summer, in particular, and prostitute
themselves. About 10 of them come from North Africa.

“But no one knows how much prostitution contributes
to the spread of the virus. But I believe it is insignificant.
Most professional prostitutes are extremely careful to
protect themselves. After all, the most common way of
becoming infected is having sex at home in the bedroom
or on a trip abroad,” Sved said.

Mikael Westrell, curator of mental health in Stockholm,
also believes there is little spread of the disease at video
clubs or through prostitution. He traces contacts among
homosexual and bisexual men who are HIV-infected.

“From an epidemiological standpoint, it was unfortu-
nate that the sauna clubs were closed. If we are to speak
of a high-risk group today, it would be those who travel
abroad and are infected there,” Westrell said.

Forced Quarantine Confirmed

90WE0284c Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER
in Swedish 3 Aug 90 p 5

[Article: “HIV-Man Refused Review”)

[Text] The decision to subject the so-called HIV man to
forced quarantine will not be reviewed by the Supreme
Administrative Court.

WEST EUROPE 31

In June the man, who is a West German citizen, asked to
be released from forced quarantine to return to his
homeland.

Now the Supreme Administrative Court, as the court of
final appeal, has determined that forced quarantine in
accordance with the law on communicable diseases,
cannot be set aside simply because the man wants to
move to West Germany. This same determination was
made previously by both the county administrative court
of appeal and the regional court of appeal.

SWITZERLAND

Statistics Published on Total Reported AIDS
Cases

90P20128A Geneva JOURNAL DE GENEVE in French
29 Aug 90 p 9

[ATS [Swiss Wire Service] report: “Statistic-—AIDS:
1410 Total Cases”’]

[Text] In Switzerland, 33 AIDS patients died in July as a
result of their immunodeficiency, raising the total
number of deaths to 803. Moreover, from the beginning
of the year to 31 July, 252 new cases of AIDS have been
reported to the Federal Office of Public Health (OFSP),
bringing the number to 1410 in all.

The AFSP indicated that the 253 new AIDS cases
include 204 men and 49 women. The illness has mainly
stricken homosexual or bisexual (97 cases) men as well as
drug addicts, or former drug addicts of both sexes (101).
AIDS has been diagnosed in 37 heterosexual adults and
seven children of less than 15 years of age.

Of the 1410 known AIDS cases, 646 are homosexual or
bisexual men, 476 are drug addicts and 172 are hetero-
sexuals. OFSP has recorded 25 children stricken with
AIDS and 20 people infected after blood transfusions.
Almost a third of those afflicted (438) live in Zurich
canton, 186 live in Geneva canton, 163 live in Vaud
canton, and 134 in Berne canton.

‘Health Bus’ To Complement Sanctioned Shooting
Galeries

90P20120A Geneva JOURNAL DE GENEVE in French
16 Aug 90 p9

[Unattributed article: “Prevention of AIDS—Health Bus
to Bale”]

[Text] The Public Health Department of Bale-Ville
canton announced on Wednesday [15 Aug] its intention
to be more active in the prevention of AIDS among drug
users. The department plans to place in service a “health
bus” where drug addicts will be able to procure sterile
syringes and condoms. The Bale government intends,
thus, to relieve the “sanctioned shooting galeries” to
which more than 250 addicts come daily.



SIPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

JAPAN

WHO Chief Reports on AIDS Statistics at Osaka
Conference

OW1609095290 Tokyo KYODO in English 0752 GMT
16 Sep 90

[Text] World Health Organization (WHO) Director
General Hiroshi Nakajima said Sunday the world’s
AIDS virus carriers have grown to 8 million in early
1990, equal to one in 300 adults.

Nakajima, who is in Osaka to attend an international
microbiological studies conference, urged the develop-
ment of anti- AIDS vaccines. He said over 30 kinds of
vaccines are under study in the world but none of them
have proved to be decisive.

The WHO’s latest survey from early this year shows that
of disease carriers, more than 800,000 people are esti-
mated to have either shown symptoms or have already
died, Nakajima told a press conference.

EAST ASIA 13

Nakajima, a Japanese, has headed the Geneva-based
international health group since 1988. He said the
highest infection rate is seen in southern parts of Africa,
where one out of 40 adults, men and women, was
discovered to be AIDS virus carriers.

The United States followed with the figure of one carrier
to every 75 adult men and one out of 700 women, he
said.

Other conspicuously affected areas include South
America, where one out of 125 adult men and 500
women are infected, and Europe, with one to every 200
adult males and one out of 1,400 women are found to be
AIDS virus carriers, he reported.

Nakajima, who has once served as head of the WHO's
Western Pacific office based in Manila, also expressed
concern that AIDS patients are increasing in Thailand
and India.

The Far East, including Japan and South Korea, showed
a comparatively low figure with one carrier out of 4,000
men and 20,000 women, Nakajima said.



JPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

The statement, signed by Dr Koech, said that, “we would
like to make it clear that there has not been any misun-
derstanding or disagreement between Kemri and other
collaborators namely, the Hayashibara Biochemical Lab-
oratories of Japan and the Amarillo Cell Culture Com-
pany of the United States.”

Each institution has had a clearly delineated and specific
role in the entire research collaboration, the statement,
which referred to recent press reports on a controversy
between Kemri and other collaborating institutions,
said.

Government Claims More Than 9,000 AIDS
Cases

EA0610200090 Nairobi KNA in English 1735 GMT
4 Oct 90

[Excerpts] Mombasa—The director of medical services,
Professor J. S. Oliech, has called for concerted efforts
from all wananchi [citizens] in the management of HIV
infections and AIDS. [passage omitted]

Prof. Oliech made the call today when he officially
opened a three-day workshop on the management of
HIV infections and AIDS in a Mombasa hotel. The
participants are senior health workers from the govern-
ment and private sectors in Coast Province. [passage
omitted]

Meanwhile, Prof. Oliech has disclosed that the number
of reported AIDS cases in Kenya has risen to a total of
9,139 as of June 1990 since the first case was diagnosed
in 1984. He said so far Coast Province, Nairobi, and
Nyanza Provinces were leading in AIDS cases in that
order and called for intensified efforts in counselling,
saying that counselling was an important tool in AIDS
management, as it helped to create public awareness.

MADAGASCAR

FRG Gives Medical Supplies To Fight AIDS

90WE0324A Antananarivo MIDI MADAGASIRAKA
in French 7 Aug 90 p 5

[Text] The Federal Republic of Germany has just
donated medicines worth 55,000 DM [Deutsche mark],
or the equivalent of 55 million Malagasy francs, to the
Health Ministry’s Program To Combat Sexually Trans-
mitted Diseases (STD) and AIDS.

The gift was channeled through the GTZ, a German aid
organization that participates in carrying out the pro-
gram.

In addition to helping to finance nationwide seroepide-
miological studies, the FRG has also offered condoms

and audiovisual materials and has helped test blood
donors in 10 Malagasy localities.

All works to be added to the credit of German develop-
ment cooperation.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 5

Two seminars for health professionals, also part of the
National Program to Combat STDs and AIDS, will be
held at the end of 1990. They will be hosted by two
faritanys [translation unknown].

The donated medicine was accepted on behalf of the
Ministry of Health by Dr. Randretsa Martial, head of the
STD and AIDS program; the German side was repre-
sented by Dr. Kirsch, GTZ consultant.

As you can see, cooperation between Madagascar and
the FRG in the area of health care is alive...and well.

MALAWI

AIDS Cases Rising at ‘Alarming’ Rate

MB0610194690 Blantyre Domestic Service in English
1800 GMT 6 Oct 90

[Text] The manager for the AIDS control program in the
Ministry of Health, Dr. George Liomba, said today that
the number of AIDS victims was rising at an alarming
rate. Opening the second [words indistinct] contest in
Blantyre, Dr. Liomba said in November last year over
7,000 cases [words indistinct] were reported in the
country, compared to only 17 in 1988.

He noted that those affected ranged from the ages 20 to
49, which, he described as the socio-economically pro-
ductive group. He said deaths caused by AIDS disrupt
the social and economic development of the country. He
called on people to follow [words indistinct] that will
help prevent the [words indistinct] of the disease.

During the contest [words indistinct] and a cash prize of
1,000 kwacha.

MALI

AIDS Figures for Bamako Cited

AB2309164590 Bamako Domestic Service in French
1500 GMT 20 Sep 90

{Excerpt] AIDS figures are becoming increasing dan-
gerous in our country. This was the observation made
yesterday by the Mali AIDS Prevention Committee.
Within the first half of this year, 104 cases were counted
only in Bamako District, according to Professor Ali
Djumah, chairman of the Mali AIDS Prevention Com-
mittee. [passage omitted]

MOZAMBIQUE

Experts Review Severity of AIDS Situation

90WE0343A Maputo NOTICIAS in Portuguese
11 Aug 90 p 4

[Text] Two years ago, when the number of people with
AIDS could almost be counted on your fingers—there
were just 20 of them—, we used to say in a tone of



28 WEST EUROPE

all for as long as 10 to 20 years and, because of this, he is
also unaware of the virus that is reproducing in his
system.

In Sirkka-Liisa Valle’s opinion, an HIV test should also
be administered considerably more often than is at
present the case in conjunction with the various routine
medical examinations so that carriers without symptoms
may be informed that they are infected.

In Valle’s opinion, informing the patient as early as
possible that he is infected is desirable in terms of both
patient treatment and the campaign that is being waged
against the epidemic.

For the patient, this affords him access to medical
observation during which his condition can be observed
and he can be helped with proper treatment when
changes in it appear.

The spread of the epidemic could, in turn, be checked if
infection of healthy sexual partners by carriers without
symptoms could be prevented through public informa-
tion campaigns and proper use of contraceptives.

There is a so-called las {not further identified] phase in
the final half of the long symptomless period that can
usually be detected only by a doctor as a slight enlarge-
ment of the lymph nodes. Ordinary illnesses that inter-
fere with and limit the daily life of the infected person,
so-called opportunistic diseases, strike shortly after this
during the pre-AIDS phase. During this pre-AIDS phase,
the patient may, for example, suffer from a severe case of
shingles or rashes and mouth thrush, all of which are
unusual in individuals with a healthy immunological
defense system.

The pre-AIDS phase is clear proof that the virus has
managed to seriously damage the key T-lymphocyte CD4
cells, which are also known by the term “helper cells.”

Once the HIV has destroyed enough of the CD4 cells, the
body’s immune system collapses. This is followed by the
final phase of the infection, known by the term “AIDS,”
during which increasingly more serious opportunistic
diseases destroy the patient’s resistance.

It takes 10 years on average for an HIV infection to
progress from the initial infection to the AIDS phase.
Since the disease was identified only as recently as 1981,
no one knows for sure how long the natural life of the
virus actually is.

Because of this, the future of a person infected with the
virus cannot be predicted with any certainty. Only
infections that progress very rapidly can be discovered
with the aid of a five-stage clinical symptom identifica-
tion system and treated.

While not everyone who is infected with the virus comes
down with AIDS, because of the brief history of the
disease, researchers cannot say whether a carrier will be

SJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

completely spared or whether only one who is critically
ill with some other infection will perhaps come down
with it later.

Treatment Being Developed Slowly

Several studies have been published in San Francisco
that indicate that there is a slow advance being made
from the stalemate situation in terms of chemotherapy
and vaccination.

Treatment of an HIV patient is usually divided into two
parts: treatment specifically aimed at the virus and
treatment of the various opportunistic diseases.

There are now effective treatment methods for diseases
caused by the weakening of immunity that extend the life
of a patient and, above all, improve his quality of life.

However, effective drugs for the HIV itself have not been
found, although quite recently gradual progress has been
made in developing them.

According to Juhani Lahdevirta, two chief strategies in
combating the HIV are recognized in the world: either
trying to prevent reproduction of the virus or improving
the patient’s own immunity.

At the AIDS conference it was revealed that researchers
have clearly been concentrating more on finding ways of
preventing reproduction of the virus. This is due to the
results achieved with so-called nucleoside analogs.

The best-known nucleoside analog is the drug AZT, or
zidovudine, which is also used in Finland. So far, it is the
only drug that has proved to even to some extent be
effective against the virus.

AZT is primarily given to patients who are in the
pre-AIDS or AIDS phase who display severe symptoms.
The drug slows down development of the infection and
improves the immunodeficiency patient’s condition, but
does not save him from death.

Its high price and severe side effects limit the use of
zidovudine. One AZT tablet currently costs a bit more
than six markkas. Because of its side effect, causing
muscular atrophy, the patient is given an average of six
tablets a day.

At the present time the effect of AZT on the earlier stages
of the disease is being tested in several different coun-
tries. A study made last summer in the United States
showed that zidovudine may slow the advance of the
disease immediately after the subject is infected.

The success achieved with AZT has prompted
researchers to investigate other nucleoside analogs. One
of these is DDI, a drug related to AZT, testing of which
will probably begin in a broadly based Nordic research
project at the end of the year.

Along with nucleoside analogs, attempts have also been
made to study so-called immunomodulators that, as the



JPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

when sources of infection, people’s habits, etc. cannot be
controlled because it is illegal to register persons who are
infected with AIDS? Until that has taken place, many
more people will be infected and many people will die
because of the politicians’ reluctance to take the initia-
tive that can save lives.

AIDS Information Campaign Affects Homosexual
Behavior

90WE0337B Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE
in Danish 21 Aug 90 p 5

[Article by RB: “AIDS Information Has Substantial
Impact on Homosexuals”—first paragraph is BER-
LINGSKE TIDENDE introduction}

[Text] Over 90 percent have learned about precautionary
measures against HIV infection from official campaigns
and mass media. Homosexual men are well informed
about taking precautions against HIV infection. Official
advertising campaigns and commentary in the mass
media, in particular, have reached a large part of the
homosexual community, according to a study that will
be released in UGESKRIFT FOR LAEGER [Physicians’
Weekly]. The study is based upon 2,098 questionnaires
collected primarily through two magazines which cater
to homosexual men. Altogether, 96 percent of the
respondents received their information through radio or
TV, 94 percent through official advertising campaigns,
92 percent through the daily or weekly press, and 90
percent through gay publications.

There was a high degree of satisfaction with the quality
of the information received from gay publications, radio
and TV, and in the massive advertising campaigns. Only
50 percent, on the other hand, were satisfied with the
information from daily and weekly publications.

Respondents were particularly pleased with telephone
counseling from the AIDS hotline and with the gay-
lesbian local radio stations, but these channels were used
by only 21 and 36 percent respectively.

Physicians responsible for the study conclude that the
organized campaigns did win broad favor. They recom-
mend that the Health Commission’s work continue via
mass media and through channels aimed at the general
population, closet homosexuals, and men with bisexual
contacts.

Condom Use Widely Accepted by Youths

90WE0337A Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE
in Danish 28 Aug 90 p 7

[Article by RB: “Condoms in Use From the Start”]

[Text] Condoms are finding popularity among youths,
starting with their first sexual experience. In 1982—
before the public knew about the AIDS disease—just a
third of the young used condoms. Six years later, con-
doms were the only protection used by more than
two-thirds of youths in their first sexual encounter.

WEST EUROPE 25

These were the findings of a study made in the Storstrom
District and described in the most recent issue of
“UGESKRIFT FOR LAEGER” [Physicians’ Weekly].

The widespread use of condoms, however, disguises the
fact that a large number of young people do not know
how to use condoms correctly. Sex education given in the
public schools appears to be inadequate. The study
demonstrated that very simple, additional sex informa-
tion is helpful to young people.

The study included 451 school children from the eighth
and ninth grades. In early 1988, they received sex educa-
tion at a birth control counseling clinic. They filled out
questionnaires before and after the instruction.

The instruction introduced a simple little exercise in
which each student opened a condom and set it on the
finger of the person next to him. The exercise demysti-
cized the slightly awkward situation of putting the
condom on an “unfamiliar” partner. At the same time,
the study concluded, it worked to alter the existing
pattern in which typically only half of the girls have
handled a condom and only nine percent of the students
are able to use the condom correctly.

FINLAND

Paper Warns of Complacency Toward AIDS

Increase in HIV Infections

90WE0299A Helsinki HELSINGIN SANOMAT
in Finnish 9 Aug 90 p 5

[Article: “Number of AIDS Infected Increased in Fin-
land.”]

[Text] The amount of the individuals who have contr-
cated HIV infection and AIDS has again increased in
Finland. By the end of July of this year already 44 new
HIV infections were found, compared to all of last year
when the amount of the infections was 39. Up to now
325 HIV infections have been discovered in Finland, of
which 62 have advanced to AIDS. At the youth festival
of the Finnish Red Cross in Turku, Dr. Sirkka-Liisa
Valle complained that it is especially young homosexual
males who underestimate the risk of contagion. The risk
is on the rise also for heterosexual individuals and for
users of intravenous drugs.

Youth Especial Concern

90WE0299B Helsinki HELSINGIN SANOMAT
in Finnish 12 Aug 90 p 2

{Article: “Danger By No Means Over.”]

[Text] Are people frustrated with safe sex and with
education? Is there to be found among us an apathy, such
as has been noted in the area of AIDS information
abroad? There may be good grounds for fearing this: At
this rate the decade begins with very negative statistics,
with an all-time record, even.



2 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

In poor sections of the world the number of prostitutes
who are infected with HIV is increasing explosively. The
same is true of the number of women involved in
prostitution. In Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, the
number of prostitutes is estimated at just under one
million women. In Tanzania’s capital city of Dar Es
Salam the number of prostitutes is increasing by an
estimated 10 percent per year. At the same time, in
Tanzania it is difficult to get women involved in AIDS
control programs, since officially prostitution does not
exist in Tanzania. The same is true in India although, in
some cases, this has not prevented authorities from
cruelly locking up HIV-infected prostitutes in cages and
putting them on public display.

With regard to the use of the often unpopular condoms,
investigations in both Zaire and Kenya now show that
where condoms are available to prostitutes there is a
sharp increase in the use of condoms and a corre-
sponding reduction in new cases of HIV infection. More-
over, this knowledge spreads quickly among the prosti-
tutes, who have proven to be quite good at educating one
another.

AIDS also threatens children directly. This applies to
children who contract the HIV infection from their
mothers during pregnancy and also to young people who
are having their first erotic experiences.

The WHO estimates that in 1992 at least 250,000
children in Africa south of the Sahara will be infected
with HIV from birth. In Uganda nine percent of the
AIDS cases in 1988 were children under five years of age
and it is believed that during the 1990’s AIDS will be the
greatest direct cause of childhood mortality in Uganda.
For some African countries, this trend will mean that
three decades of progress in health care for children will
be wiped out.

In addition to this, there is the enormous problem of
finding sufficient care for the surviving children and
providing the basic care, counseling, and social assis-
tance to AIDS victims in their own homes.

The entire demographic pattern is changing in the
hardest hit regions. For the first time in the history of the
Haya people, their society is predominantly one of
children and old people, according to Jerald
Ndyekobora, village chairman of Kashenyi in the
Bukoba district in the Kagera region of Tanzania. Half
the people in the district are now children who need
food, clothing, and education. They are dependent on
the old people who cannot provide the children with
their basic needs, no matter how hard they work.

When an HIV-infected woman is pregnant, it is assumed.
that there is a 25 to 50 percent chance that her child will
be infected during her pregnancy, for as yet unknown
reasons. Nevertheless, the majority of the HIV-infected
women who are pregnant in the United States choose to
give birth to their children, despite the availability of
abortion. This has surprised many physicians. However,
this does not surprise black gynecologist Janet Mitchell,

JPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

who works at a hospital in the Harlem section of New
York. She believes that this surprise on the part of
physicians demonstrates a lack of understanding of
women’s overall situation in life. In other words, women
are deprived of everything in society, except their fer-
tility. Instead of looking at the overall needs of women,
many people simplify the situation and look at women
only as bearers of the HIV infection.

If we look at Africa, we see that abortion is both
inaccessible and culturally unacceptable to both sexes. In
cosmological terms, children are part of the continuing
life cycle and children are social security for the future.
Furthermore, the risk of infecting one’s child with HIV is
seen in the context of the child’s overall chance of
survival in an environment where many life-threatening
diseases can strike the child at an early age. The women
must also consider the fact that their men may leave
them if they refuse to bear children for them. In Africa it
is important to have children.

Inter-African AIDS Workshop Opens in Ivory
Coast

B2709125690 Abidjan FRATERNITE MATIN
in French 27 Sep 90 p 3

{Excerpts] Representatives of some 15 countries,
including financial backers, under the auspices of the
World Health Organization, WHO, have been meeting at
the Novotel since Monday, 24 September at the second
interstate workshop on the epidemiological monitoring
of AIDS. AIDS policy makers are meeting at this same
venue which last year hosted a similar workshop on the
same subject. This year’s meeting is of a higher level and
throughout this week participants will be exchanging
their experiences and discussing various detection tests,
drawing up conventions, and so on. This workshop,
therefore, is expected to be an enriching one, more so
because experts from Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon,
Guinea, Comoros, Djibouti, Algeria, Togo, Tunisia,
Madagascar, Mauritania, Morocco, Chad, and Niger
have come to Abidjan with the results of their personal
research. [passage omitted]

Dr. Paul Sato, head of the monitoring, projections, and
studies on the impact of the world program on AIDS
control, who came from Geneva, recalled that there are,
presently, an estimated 5 million HIV positive persons
in Africa. There has, therefore, been a 100 percent
increase in AIDS cases, because WHO had hitherto
estimated the prevalence of the HIV positives at only
two and a half million in Africa. This increase in
percentage has occurred within a period of only two
years. That is why the importance of such a workshop,
which has brought together officials from West and
North Africa, cannot be overemphasized. Their mission
is to draw up (sometimes to review and correct) action
plans to improve or establish new systems of monitoring
the infection, after identifying and planning the areas
and groups at risk. [passage omitted]



IJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

INTER-AFRICAN AFFAIRS

Danish Anthropologist On AIDS And Children

90WE0312A Copenhagen INFORMATION in Danish
17 Jul 90 p 6

[Excerpts by Asger Werner Hansen: “Half Million Chil-
dren Affected By AIDS”]

[Text] Africa south of the Sahara is the region of the
world that is hardest hit by AIDS. This year there are
already about 200,000 orphans. In just two years the
figure will have risen to 0.5 million.

The old people here are tired of digging new graves. Here
there are houses with no one but children. This was
stated in a recent report from the Rakai and Masaka
districts of Uganda. There are 40,000 orphans registered
in these districts.

Africa south of the Sahara is still the region of the world
that is hardest hit by AIDS and at the beginning of the
year the WHO estimated that there are now about
200,000 orphans. It is estimated that by 1992 the figure
will top 500,000 and then reach at least 1.5 million in
1995.

No one has a clear idea as to what can be done about this
trend. But the situation is still a reflection of the AIDS
epidemic’s serious social, economic, and cultural conse-
quences for the African Continent—especially the
hardest hit countries surrounding Lake Victoria in cen-
tral Africa.

An increasing number of young adults have been or will
be infected after giving birth to several children. In most
cases, these children will be orphans within three to 10
years. The very young and very old will then remain,
having in common the fact that they are unable to work
the land, to produce the food they need.

Moreover, they will not have the financial means neces-
sary to give their children even a minimal education.

The African extended family has always been strong
enough to secure the basic welfare of its members and to
provide a safety net in case of sickness, misfortune, or
death. It still is, to a certain extent, but now this structure
is also threatened.

This is particularly true in countries such as Uganda and
Mozambique, where the AIDS epidemic is following in
the wake of many years of devastating war. A heavier
and heavier burden rests on fewer and fewer members of
the family network in the most hard-hit regions, where
pressure on the local authorities is also becoming too
heavy. Children and young people experience extreme
grief. In addition, there can be physical and psycholog-
ical depravation if they are isolated for fear of infection
or as a result of the social stigma that is often linked to
AIDS.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1

In various parts of the world there is increasing evidence
that the ratio of men to women infected with the HIV
virus is changing and that women comprise a growing
percentage of the AIDS cases.

In various regions of Africa there are more women than
men who have been infected with HIV and the rate is
increasing by 2 to 1. In the Caribbean region as a whole,
the male-to-female ratio has dropped from 6:1 1986 to
2.4:1 in 1989. In the United States women accounted for
six percent of the AIDS cases in 1984, compared to 10
percent in 1989. Heterosexual spreading of the disease
accounts for 29 percent of the AIDS cases among
women. Of these cases, minority groups are particularly
affected. Many of them have partners who are IV drug
users or they are drug users themselves. A smaller group
of infected women come from the American middle
class, which does not see itself as a high-risk group. In
Western Europe, women now account for 13 percent of
the AIDS cases.

This general increase shows that, ultimately, it is the
behavior of a woman and her partner—not race, ethnic
background, or class—that determines the probability of
HIV infection. But cultural, ethnic, or economic factors
create significant social and psychological barriers for
many women’s attempts to reduce their risk of infection.
For many women, these barriers include poverty and
powerlessness. It is purely a matter of survival for a
woman and her children in areas that are characterized
by poverty, unemployment, and drug abuse. In addition,
women may be sexually powerless with respect to men,
on whom they are often economically dependent.

This is a global situation for women, although to varying
degrees. Many women out of a group recently studied in
Uganda’s capital city of Kampala indicated that it was
probable they would contract AIDS because, as they put
it, they were “unable to control the actions of their male
partners.”

In addition, many years of war and terror in Uganda
have made the situation of women there extremely
uncertain and threatened. Finally, women have a low
status, which begins when they are still children.

Throughout the world, health authorities have warned
that prostitution is a possible source for the spread of the
HIV infection and, often without reason, prostitutes
have been blamed for the spread of the disease. In the
Western world many prostitutes have used condoms for
years to protect themselves from venereal disease. In
poor sections of the world, however, prostitution is
primarily responsible for the spread of the HIV infec-
tion, In these countries, women traditionally have been
unable to obtain condoms or the men have rejected the
use of condoms. Moreover, in these countries prostitutes
are even more without legal rights than in the West. It is
here that women are at the greatest risk and, in most
cases women are driven to prostitution by poverty and
lack of legal protection. Most of them are the mothers of
children whom they love and support.



14 EAST ASIA

THAILAND

Government Sets 102 Million Baht Anti-AIDS
Budget

BK1709090390 Bangkok Domestic Service in English
0000 GMT 17 Sep 90

[Text] The Government has set aside 102 million baht
for the prevention and control of the Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS during the new fiscal year
to start 1 October.

Deputy Public Health Minister Suthat Ngoenmun said
that although the sum might be insufficient, anti-AIDS
campaigns will be accelerated. Mr. Suthat told a gath-
ering of 600 tambon health officials in Ubon Rat-
chathani province yesterday that an additional budget
for the purpose will be sought.

The budget mentioned does not include 135 million baht
set aside for the construction of an AIDS rehabilitation
center.

Mr. Suthat also said the 1991 AIDS prevention and
control policy will underline the campaign to educate the
public in every profession and every age group on the
deadly disease. The campaign will be, however, launched
in different tactics to suit each target group.

Mr. Suthat’s speech was to signify the opening of a
training program on AIDS education being conducted
for the community health officials. These officials will be
later sent out to give accurate information on the disease
to community leaders and voluntary health informants,
who will transfer the knowledge to other villagers in this
northern province.

Chiang Mai Prostitutes Surveyed on Anti-AIDS
Measures

90WE0333D Bangkok THE NATION in English

5 Jul 90 pS

[Article by Kampol Khodsaengma]

[Text] Many AIDS-conscious prostitutes in this northern
Province are rejecting customers who refuse to use
condoms even if they are offered double their normal
sum, a public health official said.

Dr Surasing Wisarutrat, acting chief of the Chiang Mai
Public Health Center, said in a recent survey of 60
brothels in Chiang Mai, researchers found that 89.5
percent of the prostitutes had sold their services only to
the men who agreed to use the condom.

He said the researchers found that these prostitutes
refused to sell themselves even though their customers
offered to pay them double the sum she usually received.

The survey was conducted in brothels at the areas of
Kampaeng Din Road and Loy Kroh and Santidham
markets, Surasing said.

IJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

“I believe using condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS
virus among prostitutes is successful in Chiang Mai,”
Surasing said.

The latest official figures showed that 1,782 prostitutes
were among the 2,790 people in chiang Mai who were
tested positive for the human immuno-deficiency virus
(HIV) which develops into the acquired immune defi-
ciency syndrome (AIDS).

Surasing said most brothels in Chiang Mai pasted up
large stickers announcing that the place welcomed only
those who used condoms. Brothel owners agreed to
cooperate in this anti-AIDS campaign because they
believed condoms could prevent the spread of the deadly
virus, he added.

Pol Col Bamrung Koeddee, deputy Chiang Mai police
chief, said the arrest of prostitutes was merely an attempt
to curb the profession and not a suppression of prostitu-
tion.

Bamrung said police could not arrest all prostitutes
because most of the brothels in Chiang Mai have been
turned into restaurants or cafes.

AIDS in Ranong Province, Burmese Connection

90WE0333C Bangkok BANGKOK POST in English
5 Aug 90 p 2

[Text] Ranong Province is one of 16 with a serious AIDS
problem, but the situation there is different and more
difficult to control, provincial health chief Dr Klaharn
Limsiripak told the BANGKOK POST.

“The situation in the province is different to that in
other provinces in that it is connected to Burma. The
AIDS problem in the province centers on the fishermen,
many of whom are Burmese, who cross over to the
province and stay for three to four days.

Dr Kiaharn said it is estimated there are 5,000 Burmese
fishermen who use the 77 piers in the province.

According to a latest survey, the areas around the fish
piers are the center for spreading communicable dis-
eases, including AIDS, and there are about 48 brothels at
piers where a total of about 500 Burmese or Thai
prostitutes work.

The survey found that of about 1,028 people found to
have contracted the disease between March and June
this year, 77 are Thai fishermen and 951 are Burmese
fishermen, Dr Klaharn said.

Dr Klaharn said health officials have tried to coordinate
work with Thai Immigration and with Burmese author-
ities.

Knowledge of AIDS in the brothels is practically non-

existent. The most trying problems emerge in brothels
where Burmese women are working, he said.



4 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

“Immuno Vanda,” first, reinforces the patient’s immune
system and, through its antiviral qualities, strives to
destroy the virus.

The drug has been experimented for six years in Europe
and is reported to have yielded good results there. In
Africa, where it has been used only for three years, the
observations are the same. The product will be marketed
as soon as our country’s health authorities give the green
light for its sale.

The treatment must be continued over a period of nine
months, until the desired results are achieved. The
seropositive patient is expected to take one powdered
capsule a day but if he is at the advanced stage of the
illness then the dose should be one capsule in the
morning and another at midday. Although this drug does
not provide a biological cure, it is capable of providing a
little relief and restoring the patient’s smile, and it also
reduces the effect of opportunist diseases. [passage
omitted)

KENYA

AIDS Projection Exceeded Cases Reported

90WE0360A Nairobi DAILY NATION in English
29 Aug 90 p 2

[Article by Otula Owuor]

[Text] The Director of Medical Services, Professor
Joseph Oliech, yesterday presented chilling statistics
about the spread of AIDS in Kenya.

He said it threatens up to 200,000 healthy carriers.

He also warned that it could disrupt plans aimed at
health for all by the year 2000.

Prof Oliech was officially opening a consultative work-
shop on AIDS management for senior health officials in
Nairobi at the Silver Springs Hotel.

He said that the highest number of AIDS cases is to be
found at the Coast, and in Nairobi and Nyanza prov-
inces, in that order.

Prof Oliech said that although by the end of May only
9,139 people had developed AIDS symptoms, and not
12,000 as earlier projected, there may be between
160,000-200,000 healthy carriers in the population. He
warned that everyone must join the war against the
disease.

He said that some of the emerging anti-AIDS drugs,
including Kemron, were welcome and give an added
dimension to the treatment of AIDS patients even
though prevention was more important than the drugs.

He said that even though the level of awareness about
AIDS had increased, behavior had not changed and
more clinical studies of Kemron were continuing.

IPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

Prof Oliech emphasized that Kemron was a Kenyan
innovation.

During the discussion, Mrs M. Gatei, said that the
National AIDS Control Programme had been successful
in its activities which included the installment of 74
AIDS screening machines and the establishment of four
centers in Kakamega, Kisumu, Mombasa and at the
Armed Forces Memorial Hospital—where confirmatory
tests on AIDS could be carried out.

Mrs Gatei said that AIDS prevention programmes were
presented in 18 languages.

Dr N. Achola said that AIDS tests have nowadays
become more accurate by up to 95 percent, unlike the
case not long ago when false results were published about
the prevalence of the disease in Kenya.

The Director of the Kenyatta National Hospital, Dr
Nelson Agata, said that over 40 percent of tuberculosis
patients also have AIDS.

Worldwide Use of Kemron Said To Be Sought by
Experts

91WE0002A Nairobi DAILY NATION in English

14 Sep 90 pp 1-2

[Article by Otula Owuor]

[Text] A major international effort is under way to make
Kemron, the anti-AIDS drug developed by Kenyan
researchers, available worldwide.

A meeting to discuss this ended last week at the head-
quarters of the World Health Organisation in Geneva,
Switzerland.

The meeting was chaired by the WHO Director-General,
Dr Hiroshi Nakajima, and attracted leading manufac-
turers, doctors, and drug regulatory agencies, including
Food and Drug Administration officials from the United
States.

The Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) yes-
terday issued a press statement saying that Kenya was
represented by the Director of Medical Services, Pro-
fessor J. Oliech, and Dr Davy Koech, the Director of
Kemri and principal investigator in the development of
Kemron.

“The meeting formulated guidelines for further clinical
trials on Kemron and other forms of interferons thus
paving the way for the availability of Kemron in other
countries,” the Kemri statement said.

The experts, including the Director of the Global Pro-
gramme on AIDS, Dr M.H. Merson, agreed that trials
should involve materials of internationally accepted
specifications prepared by competent research-based
pharmaceutical manufacturers with high quality-control
norms.



20 LATIN AMERICA

the carriers. “If this is true, we will have to work with the
police to overcome their fear of contact,” he said.

Roraima has fewer than 200,000 inhabitants and the rate
of 9.8 patients per 10,000 inhabitants shocked the
Health Ministry. Cortes attributes the growth of the
disease to the floating population of prospectors, which
brings prostitution and drugs with it, For every nine
cases registered, four are heterosexuals, two are drug
users, and one is bisexual. “The surprising thing,” he
said, “is that AIDS is reaching rural areas, where it is
presenting only incipient indices in other countries.”
Cortes is also concerned that the disease is reaching the
Ianomami Indians. There are cases of sexual relations
between prospectors and Indian women,“ he notes.

COLOMBIA

AIDS Figures Released, Bogota With Largest
Percentage

PA0710152790 Bogota Inravision Television Cadena 2
in Spanish 0100 GMT 7 Oct 90

[All figures as heard]

[Text] AIDS, the disease of the 20th century, is now
invading Colombian homes. An AIDS prevention cam-
paign was begun four years ago, but statistics show that
AIDS ignores slow solutions.

Between 1983 and 1990, the number of AIDS cases
reached 484 in Antioquia, 425 in Bogota, 155 in Valle,
94 in Risaralda, 45 in Santander, and 297 elsewhere,
bringing the total to 1,500.

According to experts, these were the cases recorded so
far, which represent only a small percentage because they
have indications that there are at least 100,000 carriers,
meaning that they are infected, but the terrible disease
has not yet become apparent in them.

Anyone can be exposed to it, in fact, it has been proven
that the disease can be transmitted from mother to child
through the placenta that carries blood to the fetus.

The highest risk group is homosexuals, with 40 percent,
followed by bisexuals, with 21 percent, and heterosex-
uals, 19 percent. Twenty percent of the population does
not know about the risks of contamination and thus, are
particularly vulnerable to AIDS.

What is being done to control this epidemic that is
spreading in such a frightening way? [Begin recording]

Immunology Department Chief Miguel Guzman Urrego:
We are involved in a great campaign to inform the
people about this problem. We tell them how this disease
is transmitted and how it can be prevented. It is a very
costly disease. [end recording]

The truth is that as long as the government does not start
massive prevention campaigns, AIDS will continue to
spread.

IPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

Bogota is one of the cities with the highest percentage of
AIDS cases. According to statistics, there are approxi-
mately 20,000 men and women who have it.

CUBA

Havana Television Reports on AIDS Cases

FL2209125190 Havana Tele Rebelde Network
in Spanish 1100 GMT 22 Sep 90

[Text] The Human Immune Virus, HIV, which causes
AIDS is not transmitted with a simple handshake, casual
contact, or by sharing glasses or cups. Scientists have
shown that infection occurs through sexual relations and
contact with infected blood. A pregnant woman can
infect her child at the time of birth or through breast
feeding.

At this time, the most common method of AIDS trans-
mission is through heterosexual relations, while there is
an increase in serum -positive cases among homosexuals.
Of the 493 persons diagnosed as HIV positive, 97
percent were infected through sexual relations.

HONDURAS

780 Confirmed AIDS Cases Reported

90WE0345A San Pedro Sula LA PRENSA in Spanish
15 Aug 90 p 9

[Text] Tegucigalpa—Over 50 percent of the cases of
acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome, AIDS, in Cen-
tral America and Panama are associated with Honduras,
and the projections continue to rise: Whereas, last June,
30 cases were confirmed, in July the number increased to
44, making a total of 780 AIDS cases on the national
level.

The foregoing is reflected in the latest report from the
Anti-AIDS Task and Vigilance Commission, which indi-
cates that Honduras still maintains its “leaderhip” with
tespect to the incidence of that fatal disease in the area,
followed by Panama.

Of the 780 cases confirmed, 125 relate to homosexuals
and bisexuals, and 573 involve heterosexuals. Of the
latter, 337 are men and 236, women; and 63 of these are
prostitutes.

According to the report, 47 of those infected contracted
the disease from blood transfusions; two, from drugs; 20,
from mother to child; and 13 from unknown types of
transmission. The remaining 700 cases are due to sexual
contact.

Of the total infected with the fatal virus, the whereabouts
of 303 is unknown; while 195 are recorded as living, and
282, dead.

The city with the highest rate of cases is still San Pedro
Sula, with 322; followed by Tegucigalpa, with 72; La
Ceiba, with 32; Comayagua, with 31; El Progreso, with



JPRS-TEP-90-016
30 OCTOBER 1990

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IJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

Maputo, many citizens are turning a deaf ear to the
problem and are continuing to forego preventive mea-
sures.

In the city of Maputo, a poll that was taken recently
shows that 99.5 percent of the city’s citizens know what
AIDS is, how it is contracted, and how it can be avoided.
One-half of one percent refused to talk about AIDS and
DTS [expansion not given] because they considered that
these were matters “that touch on intimate areas of
people’s lives and these are matters that cannot be talked
about under any circumstances.”

Among the percentage of people who refused to talk
about AIDS, for varying reasons, one finds mostly the
displaced people who, coming from the countryside in
search of safety, food, and employment, end up doing a
little bit of everything here.

In surveys on Knowledge of Attitudes and Practices
(CAP), which have been taken in several provinces, it
was concluded that the number and the percentage of
people who know how AIDS is transmitted is greater
than the number and percentage of people who use
condoms and accept the fact the reducing the number of
sexual partners is essential in order to avoid the disease.

In order to circumvent the advice concerning the need to
reduce the number of sexual partners and advice urging
the use of condoms during casual sexual contacts, one
now hears questions such as: “Don’t you trust me?” and
“Don’t you love me?” .

Let us remember that not trusting someone is a good
thing, because it makes it possible for one to protect
one’s own health and that of one’s partner. Using a
condom means making love responsibly. Only the use of.
acondom guarantees, at least 95 percent of the time, that
we can make love without running the risk of becoming
infected, because high-risk love-making is just not worth
it.

It is therefore imperative that in all casual sexual con-
tacts we make use of condoms in order to avoid ‘HIV
infection, from which AIDS can result.

AIDS Kills 11 People in Manica Province

MB2109110990 Maputo Domestic Service in Portugiése
0400 GMT 21 Sep 90

[Text] Of 31 cases diagnosed so far in Manica Province,
11 people have already died of AIDS.

The Manica Province health director said at the opening
of the health sector’s 10th expanded consultative
meeting yesterday that another 13 AIDS cases in Manica
Province await confirmation.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1

SOUTH AFRICA

Heterosexual Pattern of HIV Cases Prevails

90WE0341A Johannesburg THE CITIZEN in English
18 Aug 90 p 14

{Article: “HIV Pattern ‘Now Mainly Hetero in SA””]

[Text] Distribution of the HIV (Human immune-deficiency
virus) now mainly follows a pattern of predominantly het-
erosexual distribution in South Africa, after 25 new cases of
AIDS have been brought to the attention of the Department
of National Health and Population Development.

A statement from the department yesterday said of the
25 new cases brought to the Department’s attention
since June 21 this year, seven were homosexual or
bi-sexual males and 18 were heterosexual.

“These statistics confirm the observation that the HIV
distribution now mainly follows a pattern two, i.e. pre-
dominantly heterosexual distribution in South Africa.”

A total of 455 cases of AIDS have been reported in SA
[Republic of South Africa] since 1982, of which 125 were
reported this year.

It would seem that in South Africa, homosexual males
adjusted their high-risk lifestyles—fewer sex partners and/or
the use of condoms—when they became aware of the threat.

These lifestyle changes led to a levelling-off of new
AIDS-cases in this group.

However, the feeling of reassurance amongst American
gays had led to a regression to earlier dangerous practices
and. indications were that HIV-infection was on the
increase again in this group.

The Department stated that safer sex practices should be
introduced to all casual sexual relationships or relation-
ships—including marriage—where more than one
partner is involved.

“The HIV has entered the heterosexual community and
anybody who has more than one sexual partner could be a
tisk. The gay community has shown that prevention is
possible.”

Scientists and economists predicted disastrous conse-
quences for the country as a whole if dangerous sexual
practices were not ceased, the Department stressed.

Transvaal Leads in Reported AIDS Cases

90WE0341B Johannesburg THE CITIZEN in English
18 Aug 90 p 14

[Article: “Transvaal Leads in Reported AIDS Cases”]

[Text] A total of 228 cases of AIDS from the 455 cases
reported since 1982 in the country, have been reported
in the Transvaal.



6 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

self-reassurance that “there is no problem.” We needed
this self-reassurance in order not to be overwhelmed by
the fear that has always taken hold of communities when.
the disease has stricken them, and so that we could forget
the inevitable death that contracting AIDS still guaran-
tees. Now we can no longer pretend, nor can we forget
that people are dying of acquired immune deficiency
syndrome, because fathers, mothers, brothers and sis-
ters, sons and daughters, and other relatives have already
been taken from us. In the next two years, if we continue
to ignore the recommendations of the health authorities
with regard to prevention, we will be the ones—you, I,
and the guy next door—who will prematurely follow the
path to what we call “fate”—death—as a result of AIDS.
Through this past 30 June, 120 cases have already been
diagnosed, but just as many more remain to be diag-
nosed due to lack of capability. The real number of
people with the disease at this moment must be two or
three times higher than the current official number,
according to what officials of the program have assured
“Love and Health.”

Of this total of people who have the disease, some are
currently hospitalized in various health units in the
southern, central, and northern parts of the country.
Taking into account the precarious food and health
conditions and the difficulty in acquiring proper medi-
cine, half of the people who have acquired the disease
have already died.

On the average, in a country with good or even minimal
conditions of medical assistance and medical supplies, a
person who has AIDS can live between three and five
years. However, at this moment in Africa, and in
Mozambique in particular, this three-to-five year life
expectancy for a person with AIDS is unlikely, given the
shortages and difficulties of various types that everyone
has lived through and/or experienced.

If the picture of people who have contracted AIDS in the
country is now beginning to worry the community, their
families, and their friends, the picture of those who have
tested positive—people who do not have the disease but
do have the virus that causes the illness, the HIV
virus—this picture is now beginning to be alarming,
mainly because, in the cities, people are continuing to
behave without the slightest care or respect for life. They
are continuing to be promiscuous and to ignore preven-
tive measures, specifically, the use of condoms. And they
are continuing to become infected hour after hour, day
after day.

For a less frightening calculation, we can tell the reader
that the number of people who have tested positive for
the virus is approximately 150,000. In practical terms,
this figure means that we have in our country a number
of people infected with the HIV virus that is equal to or
higher than the number of inhabitants in a suburban
neighborhood of the city of Maputo or of a district of the
province of Gaza or Maputo, according to data from the
last census in 1980.

SJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

Clinical Research Will Be Intensified

The data which have been accumulated up through the
month of June regarding the number of cases presents an
epidemic curve similar to the graph of cases accumulated
throughout the world.

It is obvious that the number of cases diagnosed is lower
than the real number of people suffering from the
disease, and in Mozambique, as occurs in other coun-
tries, this situation is due to our very limited clinical
research capability. This is an area of activity that is
going to be developed beginning with this phase within
the framework of the programs that were approved in the
latest seminar on evaluating and programming efforts to
combat AIDS over the course of the coming 18 months.

During the first phase, obstacles to clinical research have
affected practically all the provinces, but especially the
province of Inhambane, which has not reported a single
case to date. However, for the last two years, the prov-
inces of Maputo City, Manica, Tete, and Cabo Delgado
have been doing serious work, a fact demonstrated by
the number of cases already reported.

A reading of the numbers by sexes shows that the
progression is annual and one concludes that the data
from the first half of this year are higher than those of
last year. One is even left with the idea that they have
doubled.

Men are more widely infected than women. And that
should not be surprising because, according to the latest
census of population, the proportion of men to women is
one man for every two women. Going back 10 years, and
even though we do not have recent data available, we
calculate that this ratio is holding steady, at least to judge
from world statistics.

The incorporation of the clinical support component
within the AIDS Combat Program, beginning with this
phase, may help establish a more appropriate parameter
of the ratio of infection between men and women.

Still by sex, the greatest number of cases of the disease
occurs in men and women between the ages of 20 and 39.
This is, of course, the group that is classified as the most
sexually active. Although based on the conclusions of a
study we can say that the most sexually active group is
the one that is suffering the most from AIDS or is the
most widely infected with the HIV virus, we can also
find people infected with the virus who are between 18
and 20 years of age, and between 40 and 60 years of age,
and also within heterosexual relationships.

Many Turn a Deaf Ear

Public education campaigns that have been carried out
from the beginning up to this phase show that a good
percentage of citizens are familiar with what AIDS is,
how it is transmitted, and how it can be avoided.
However, in practice, in the cities, principally in

A A A A A, OO AAO ee



IJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

In North America alone, one out of every 75 men is
reported to be carrying the virus in his system.

At this rate, it is predicted that there will be some 20
million HIV patients in the world by the turn of the
century. By that time, 80 percent of them will have
contracted the disease through heterosexual relations.

Rapidly spreading in different parts of the world, the
disease is considered to be the most serious threat in the
world to people’s health at the present time. It is feared
that, without a cure, it will get completely out of control
in the very near future.

Asa challenge to medical science, the HIV epidemic and
AIDS have long since surpassed cancer research, in
which the largest amount of funds and research resources
used to be invested.

Although no other disease has been studied so inten-
sively, the results have so far not been very convincing.
The way the disease comes into being and develops is
only now beginning to become clear as the result of a
worldwide effort that has been going on for 10 years.

Nevertheless, results were presented for the first time at
the San Francisco conference that indicate that more
effective chemotherapy and possibly a vaccine that will
slow down its advance may be found after all for this
disease, which is considered to be incurable.

Regarded as the discoverer of the HIV, French
researcher Luc Montagnier is thought to be developing
the longest acting drug and a vaccine.

Operating at the Louis Pasteur Institute, Montagnier’s
team has published promising results with a vaccine that
has been tested on chimpanzees.

Similar tests in the United States reveal that they have
succeeded in limiting reproduction of the virus in ani-
mals that have already been infected.

It became evident at the June conference that the race to
find a cure for AIDS or a vaccine has more clearly than
before turned into a contest between France and the
United States. Medical glory and the staggering financial
prospects an effective cure would open [to its discov-
erers] lead to the presentation to the public at regular
intervals new compounds that are claimed to be effective
against the HIV.

Robert Gallo, perhaps the best-known AIDS researcher
in the world, who is now openly accused in the United
States of pursuing only his own interest, has had to
bitterly endure distorted competition.

In the opinion of his sharpest critics, Gallo made use of
the AIDS funds he received for his laboratory only to see
to it that he would get the Nobel prize for medicine and
the worldwide reputation that goes with it.

J

WEST EUROPE 27

Gallo’s motives and credibility suffered a severe blow
after he tried to claim after the fact that the HIV
discovered by the French was an achievement of his own
team.

Intelligent Virus

The campaign against HIV infection and AIDS has
proved to be more difficult than expected because the
adversary is an “intelligent” virus that is exceptionally
capable of transforming its nature.

Up to now, at least five variants of the HIV “family”
have been discovered, each of which functions and reacts
in a different way in an organism. The virus is also
capable of quickly developing strong resistance to drugs
used to fight it.

Once the HIV gets into an organism, it penetrates the
holy of holies of a cell, the so-called genotype. With our
present-day knowledge, it is impossible to get it out of
there. What makes the infection fatal is that the virus
selects the key cells of the immunological defense system
to reproduce in, the so-called T-lymphocytes.

Specialized in the care of HIV patients, chief physician
Juhani Lahdevirta thinks that it may be impossible to
ever produce a drug that cures the infection or a vaccine
that prevents infection.

According to Lahdevirta, a significant advance in the
fight against AIDS would be achieved if a drug or
combination of drugs were to be found in the near future
that would enable us to stop the virus from reproducing
or even appreciably slow it down.

“Any virus that invades a person’s system stays there. It
poses no threat from the standpoint of health if the body
is able to bury it somewhere. But a virus like the HIV,
which constantly reproduces and burrows into the
organism like a mole, does pose a threat to an individ-
ual’s health,” Lahdevirta said.

Infection Has Five Phases

The phases of HIV infection have been divided into five
sequences on the basis of how serious the characteriza-
tion of the disease is.

Infection with the virus is followed by a primary phase
that generally lasts one to two months. A third of those
infected with the virus exhibit the symptoms of this
phase in one way or another: Some of them remember it
afterwards as slight feverishness whereas others have to
resort to hospital care.

After the primary phase, an infected organism produces
HIV antibodies, which appears as a positive result in a
test.

From the standpoint of how the disease spreads, the
primary phase is followed by the most difficult phase of
all, during which the patient may show no symptoms at



26 WEST EUROPE

There are no grounds for a belief that we in Finland have
luckily once again avoided the scourge. We are still in the
danger zone, like other countries. The known figures do
not necessarily tell the whole truth. The infection situa-
tion is especially gloomy in France, the United States,
and in Africa. Over time travel has increased from
Finland to countries outside Europe, where the danger
lurks in quite a different proportion than in the home
country.

The infections, which have been recently discovered, are
to be found among the youth who have reached their
most sexually active period. Based on this, education
must be continued, and it must be directed at each
generation in a new form which will guarantee the good
teception of the message. A suitable guiding thought
would be that special caring and responsibility for one’s
companion are tied to the right kind of interaction and
love.

It is most important that the knowledge of the infection
is obtained at the earliest possible stage. According to the
experts, this is good both for patient care and for the
campaign which is waged against the epidemic. One
deludes oneself if one thinks that the disease is not
contagious.

Although compared to the worldwide situation the AIDS
situation in Finland is good, it will not stay so without a
continuous effort. It is good also to remember that
although intensive reserach on AIDS has already been
conducted in the world for ten years, a final break-
through has not yet happened.

Researchers on Prospects for Combating AIDS

90WE0329A Helsinki SUOMEN KUVALEHTI
in Finnish 10 Aug 90 pp 8-13

[Article by Jouni Tervo: “AIDS”]

[Text] The time for Finns to indulge in soul searching in
the struggle against HIV infection and AIDS is coming to
an end. The latest reports on the infection predict that
the peaceful phase of the epidemic has ended and that
the disease is spreading at an accelerated rate.

Researchers view with increasing doubtfulness the pos-
sibilities of finding drugs or vaccines effective against
AIDS in the near future.

The latest statistics on HIV infection, which causes
AIDS, amassed by the Medical Board are plain to read.
Contrary claims and assumptions notwithstanding, the
infection situation has clearly taken a turn for the worse
this year.

On 27 July, a couple of weeks ago, it was reported that
there were 44 new cases of HIV infections in Finland—
that is, an average of six cases a month. This figure
already exceeds the total of 39 cases reported for all of
last year.

SJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

Researchers predict that the number of cases of HIV
infection will break the all-time record this year. Up to
now, the worst year has been 1986, when 67 persons
were found to be infected.

The ending of the peaceful phase is also evident, in
addition to the statistics, at the AIDS support center
located in the Katajanokka district of Helsinki. In July
the telephone that serves the center was ringing twice as
frequently as before.

Whereas instructions, advice, and information are usu-
ally asked for from 300 to 350 times a month, there were
over 600 requests in midsummer.

Medical Board reports and support center experiences
tell the same story. The cases of infection that have come
to light this year are recent, often only less than a year
old. They are being found in young people who have
entered a sexually more active and liberated phase of
their lives.

In the opinion of Doctor of Medicine Sirkka-Liisa Valle,
who has been studying HIV infection and the epidemic
throughout the entire known existence of the disease, the
eleventh hour has come for reassessing the anti-AIDS
campaign strategy.

According to her, the sex life begun by a new generation
that is not afraid of the epidemic was forgotten in the
earlier campaigns.

Valle would like to get information on AIDS to schools
and educational institutions. Those age groups that are
reaching the age of puberty should receive accurate,
objective information on the infection so that they are
able to assume responsibility not only for themselves but
also for their current and future sexual partners.

Infection with HIV is viewed as a vanquished disease in
Finland. The decline in the number of cases of infection
indicated by the statistics since 1986 has deluded people
into believing that the epidemic has been gotten under
control. Valle stressed the fact that only the results of
tests voluntarily taken appear in the statistics. How the
HIV epidemic may spread cannot be predicted on the
basis of these statistics, although just this has been
triumphantly done.

In Finland, 325 cases of HIV infection have been dis-
covered, 64 of which have progressed to AIDS, the final
phase of which leads to death. Up to now, the disease has
already claimed the lives of 36 persons.

Worldwide Situation Is One of Record Gloom

The Sixth International Conference on AIDS, at which
the results of medical and social research conducted in
different parts of the world were brought together, was
organized in June in San Francisco, in the United States.

Just before the conference, the United Nations’ World
Health Organization (WHO) estimated that one adult
out of every 400 had already been infected with the HIV.



SJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

ANGOLA

AIDS Patients Lack Access to AZT

91P40004 Lisbon DIARIO DE NOTICIAS
in Portuguese 17 Sep 90 p 14

[Text] One-fifth of all recorded AIDS cases in Angola are
in Luanda. Doctors, struggling without AZT medication,
are giving routine treatment to their patients. Luanda
had 18.8 percent of the fatal AIDS cases, followed by the
provinces of Zaire (17.6) and Uge (17). According to the
director of the National Anti-AIDS Program, Elsa Mon-
tez, the concentration of AIDS cases in the north could
possibly be linked to its proximity with Zaire.

Of a total of 176 cases registered in Angola, 136 were
fatal. The age groups most affected are those between 20
and 59 years, comprising 91 percent of the total cases.

Because of the unavailability of the AZT drug, which
slows the development of the disease, patients in Luanda
are “treated routinely.” Angola does not have access to
this drug because of its high cost, said Elsa Montez. She
added that some of the preventive measures being taken
to avoid the risk of contagion are mobile labs for the
control of donated blood and notices warning against the
use of improperly sterilized equipment. Condoms, which
can be bought on the parallel market, “are not enough to
protect people from AIDS because they are not adapt-
able to all climates and temperatures,” she said.

AIDS Kills 136 of 176 Reported Cases

MB1709205090 Luanda ANGOP in Portuguese
1923 GMT 17 Sep 90

[Text] A total of 136 people, out of 176 reported cases,
have died of AIDS in Angola.

Speaking to ANGOP on 16 September, Elsa Montez,
director of the National Program of Struggle Against
AIDS, said the provinces most affected by the disease are
Luanda (capital), Zaire, and Uige. She said laboratories
have been created in Luanda to control blood donors in
order to prevent the transmission of the disease.

BENIN

AIDS Seminar Ends 15 Sep

AB1809114890 Cotonou Domestic Service in French
1930 GMT 15 Sep 90

[Excerpt] AIDS in Benin: Nearly 60 persons have died
from the infection, out of 124 patients enumerated in the
health institutions. AIDS is threatening the entire
people: 10,000 to 15,000 persons are carriers of the virus
in the country, and it is to fight against this scourge that
a seminar was held on Thursday, 13 September at
Djougou for social and professional workers in the health
sector from the Atacora Province. The seminar ended
this morning. Isidore Zinsou reports from Djougou:

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 3

[Begin Zinsou recording] There are about 40 social and
professional workers in the health sector participating in
this departmental training seminar on AIDS in Atacora
Province. No part of our country has been spared by the
disease. The fast rate of the spread of the AIDS virus is
currently disturbing specialists on AIDS issues in our
country, to the point that one wonders what tomorrow
has in stock for us. It is even more disturbing and
agonizing because some Beninese people, probably
poorly informed, continue to play down the danger of
the disease by simply comparing it to infections like
malaria and other diseases, which on the other hand are
curable diseases. One can, therefore, understand the
concern expressed by Professors Isidore Zohoun, Eusebe
Alihonou, and Bruno Monteiro, who, in the course of
their various lectures at Djougou, stressed that whereas
malaria can be cured or prevented, it is impossible, for
the time being, to cure AIDS victims. [passage omitted]
[end recording]

GHANA

AIDS National Advisory Council Inaugurated

90WD0326 London WEST AFRICA in English
27 Aug-2 Sep 90 p 2372

[Text] A 30-member National Advisory Council
(NACA) on AIDS has been inaugurated in Accra, Mem-
bership of the council and sub-committees is drawn from
the ministry of health, the Ghana Nurses Association,
the Ghana Registered Midwives Association, the min-
istry of information, the Ghana Armed Forces Health
Directorate, the Pentecostal Churches, the Muslim Rep-
resentative Council and the Christian Council of Ghana.
The NACA is to advise the government on measures that
can be taken by various ministries and organizations on
policy matters relating to the control of AIDS. It will also
identify resources for the prevention of AIDS and
encourage research activities and promote education on
the control of the disease. The Secretary for Health,
Nana Akuoko Sarpong spoke at the inauguration.

IVORY COAST

New AIDS Drug Introduced

ABO0110102290 Abidjan FRATERNITE MATIN
in French 28 Sep 90 p 3

[Excerpt] Since the day it was discovered, AIDS has to
this day defied mankind, scientists, and medicine, and
yet none wants to give up the battle so each day a few
research results appear providing a method of treatment
or a short-term remedy. It is in this vein that a Belgian
group of researchers has experimented a product,
Immuno Vanda, which has the property of treating
AIDS patients clinically. On Wednesday, 26 September,
at the Hilton Hotel, Dr. Bernard Marichal presented this
new medicine which, he said, is nontoxic and cheap. Less
than 150,000 CFA francs is needed for a clinical cure, in
other words, to improve the AIDS patient’s condition.



IJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

HUNGARY

AIDS Data Provided

25000777B Budapest MAGYARORSZAG in Hungarian
No 31, 27 Jul 90 p 22

[Article by : B Csaba Almasi: “Alarming Data”]

[Excerpt] [passage omitted] As of today, Hungary is
among the relatively less contaminated regions.
According to most recent data, since the beginning of
screening in 1985, from among the total number of 221
persons (of these 33 are foreigners) recorded as HIV
positive, 41 developed the disease, and 23 of these died.
The way the number of newly developed cases is taking
shape shows an interesting tendency. While in 1986
there were only two new cases, a year later there were

EAST EUROPE 17

five. Eight new cases were recorded in 1988, and last year
there were 17 new cases already. But according to
present data it is unlikely that this doubling will continue
this year.

Despite this, in the view of professor Ferenc Varnai
[department head for Contagious and Tropical Diseases
at the Continuing Medical Training University, and
director of Laszlo Hospital], the government endeavors
to prepare to face the tasks that may be anticipated. The
Ministry of Public Welfare and the National AIDS
Committee prepared plans for further developing
patient care. At present only Laszlo Hospital of Budapest
handles AIDS patients. But the possible increase in the
number of contaminated persons, patients may make it
necessary to establish specialized AIDS units in certain
larger hospitals in the countryside. {passage omitted]



SJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

AIDS Case Discovered in Chelyabinsk
LD0210192890 Moscow Television Service in Russian
1530 GMT 2 Oct 90

[From the “Vremya” newscast]

[Text] Here is a report from the Health Ministry. A
patient infected with the HIV virus was detected in
Chelyabinsk in September. He acquired the infection

SOVIET UNION 23

from another infected man, with whom he was having
homosecual relations. He is now being examined and
will be hospitalized in Moscow.

To date, 553 Soviet persons infected with AIDS have
been discovered in our country, 263 of them children.
There are also 551 foreign citizens. They have all been
deported.



JPRS-TEP-90-016
30 October 1990 3 AIDS

LATIN AMERICA
ARGENTINA

AIDS Foundation Contests Government Statistics
[Buenos Aires BUENOS AIRES HERALD, 15 Sep 90] ..

BRAZIL

Government To Launch AIDS Awareness Campaign
[Sao Paulo FOLHA DE SAO PAULO, 2 Aug 90] ....
Cities With Highest AIDS Incidence Cited [Rio de Janeiro O
150,000 AIDS Cases Projected by 1995 ..
Incidence to Surpass Africa [Sao Paulo O ESTADO DE SAO PAULO, 29 Aug 90]
Lab May Produce AZT [Sao Paulo O ESTADO DE SAO PAULO, 29 Aug 90) ...
Rising Incidence in Roraima [Sao Paulo O ESTADO DE SAO PA ULO, 29 Aug 90]

COLOMBIA

AIDS Figures Released, Bogota With Largest Percentage
[Bogota Inravision Television Cadena 2, 7 Oct 90]

20

CUBA

Havana Television Reports on AIDS Cases /Havana Tele Rebelde Network, 22 Sep 90] .... . 20

HONDURAS

780 Confirmed AIDS Cases Reported [San Pedro Sula LA PRENSA, 15 Aug 90]
305 AIDS Victims Die in 5 Years [Panama City ACAN, 5 Oct 90] ..

VENEZUELA
Perez Mandates AIDS Committee [Caracas EL DIARIO DE CARACAS, 10 Aug 90] ....

NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA
PAKISTAN

Article Reports on AIDS Epidemic [Mujtaba Akhter; Islamabad THE MUSLIM, 18 Aug GO]... 22

SOVIET UNION
AIDS Case Discovered in Chelyabinsk [Moscow Television Service, 2 Oct 90] ....

WEST EUROPE
CANADA

AIDS Epidemic ‘Tapering Off
[Patrick Sullivan; Toronto THE GLOBE AND MAIL, 21 Aug 90] ...

DENMARK

Party Chief Backs Mandatory AIDS Register
[Pia Kjaersgaard; Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE, 4 Aug 90]...
AIDS Information Campaign Affects Homosexual Behavior
[Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE, 21 Aug 90] we 25
Condom Use Widely Accepted by Youths Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE, 28 Aug 90] ... 25



10 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Port Elizabeth district surgeon Dr. Ettiene du Plessis
said that 499 of the victims were South Africans and that
the remaining 36 were foreigners living in this country.
Two hundred and fifty-one have died.

The average age of AIDS victims in South Africa is 25.

AIDS Increase Among Children ‘Alarming’

MB1110175690 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1743 GMT 11 Oct 90

{Text] Pretoria —Forty new AIDS cases were reported in
South Africa in the past six weeks, the Department of
National Health and Population Development said on
Thursday.

The total number of reported AIDS cases in South Africa
since 1982 has reached 499, and now covers all age
groups. Thirty six were non-South Africans, the depart-
ment said.

The increase in AIDS cases amongst children is
alarming, the department said in a statement released in
Pretoria.

There are six new AIDS cases amongst children aged 0-9
years in the past six weeks, bringing the total to 30 since
1982. In the 70-plus range there are now three AIDS
cases, while the 30-39 age group has the highest number
of reported AIDS cases—154.

The statement said men account for 388 of the total
AIDS cases and women 111. Homosexuals account for
259 of the total.

According to the department, whites make up 278 of the
total, blacks 200, so-called coloureds 17 and Asians four.

Because of discrimination against AIDS sufferers in
South Africa, the department is preparing a publication
for people titled: “How To Deal With an HIV-Infected
Person or AIDS-Sufferer”.

“It seems that, due largely to ignorance, severe stigmiti-
zation of and discrmination against AIDS sufferers and
known HIV-infected persons take place,” the depart-
ment statement said.

“Infected children have on occassion been refused
school attendance,” it added.

Meanwhile, a national meeting of AIDS training and
information centres (ATICS) in September in Durban
discussed AIDS prevention strategies for the future.

Several resolutions were passed which dealt, amongst
other things, with the need for communities where the
centres are based to become more involved with the
centres.

ATICS, which are community-based in most of the large
metropolitan areas in the country, are open to all and
give counselling to HIV-infected persons and AIDS
sufferers.

SJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

They are also responsible for disseminating AIDS infor-
mation and for training AIDS educators.

SWAZILAND

Health Ministry Releases AIDS Statistics

MB0510065790 Mbabane THE TIMES OF
SWAZILAND in English 5 Oct 90 p 28

[Report by Gordon Mbuli: “AIDS Killed 17 People”)

[Text] Seventeen people have now died of AIDS in the
country since the disease was first reported here in 1987.

A total of 27 others are now lying in the hospital waiting
for their death.

A further 248 people have been confirmed as carriers of
the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which gives
tise to AIDS.

These are the frightening latest statistics released yes-
terday on the extent of the spread of the killer disease, by
the Ministry of Health.

The figures indicate an increase of 41 in the number of
people who have been confirmed carriers between July
and September this year.

Up until July the official number of carriers stood at 207
people.

Between 1988 and June this year, only seven people were
reported by the Director of Health Services, Dr. John
Mbambo who explained in a statement that up until
now, there has been a serious under- reporting of cases of
this disease which greatly understated the extent of the
scourge.

He explained that the reason for this was because of
some problems that were faced by the central labolatory
in Manzini which is responsible for testing blood sam-
ples.

He said this mistake has been corrected by a World
Health Organisation (WHO) expert who arrived in the
country this year to assist in determining the extent and
magnitude of this scourge and will set up a mechanism to
improve the reporting system.

“This figure was confirmed by a World Health Organi-
sation (WHO) expert, Dr. William Osei, an epidemiolo-
gist, who is in the country to provide expertise to the
AIDS prevention and control programme.



12 CHINA

Another 91 Chinese Infected by AIDS Virus

54004815A Beijing CHINA DAILY in English
17 Jul 90 p3

[Article by Zhu Baoxia: “Another 91 Chinese Infected by
AIDS Virus”]

[Text] Another 91 Chinese drug addicts living in border
areas of Yunnan Province were recently found to have
been infected with the AIDS—increasing the total of
such cases, reported so far in this country, to 305.

Among the 305 virus carriers, 246 are mainland Chinese
residents.

According to He Jiesheng, Vice-Minister of the Public
Health, the 91 patients were also affected through “‘com-
munal use of contaminated syringes for intravenous
injections.”

She revealed this at a national tele-conference on epi-
demic control held in Beijing yesterday.

Jointly sponsored by the National Compatriot Health
Campaign Commission and the Ministry of Public
Health with the approval of the State Council, the
conference is targeted to alert the officials and public’s
consciousness on epidemic prevention in a bid to reduce
the incidence rate of infectious diseases.

The Vice-Minister urged that all local governments
should work strictly in line with the Epidemic Control
Law and strengthen leadership in the national campaign.

She urged that the epidemic inspection and reporting
system should be enforced vigorously and specific mea-
sures be taken to prevent epidemics from occurring and
spreading.

He Jiesheng warned that the country has seen a 25.4
percent increase of epidemic cases during the first five
months this year, as compared with the same period last
year.

More than 830,000 cases were reported throughout the
country during the five months.

Among them, virulent hepatitis topped the list of
reported diseases with 490,000 cases.

Besides, some medical experts estimated that about half
of the residents in the epidemic-affected districts are
Prone to be exposed to hepatitis.

Cholera, which attacked Hainan province last year, is
now coming back towards the province.

SJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

Incidence of some other diseases such as typhoid and
dysentery are also going up monthly.

Chinese Medicine Made To Treat AIDS

54004815B Beijing CHINA DAILY in English
27 Aug 90 p 3

[Article by Xiao Chen: “Chinese Medicine Made To
Treat AIDS”]

[Text] A local company plans to begin production of
Chinese medicinal products to treat AIDS after scientists
agreed at a recent conference that Chinese medicine
could be beneficial in treating the disease.

Several specialists in Chinese medicine who have prac-
tices in the United States have found Chinese medicine
effective in the treatment of AIDS.

One of these specialists, Chen Keji, a professor from the
China Chinese Medicine Research Institute, reported on
the effectiveness of Chinese treatments in combating
AIDS.

The conference was told that some herbal drugs and
compound prescriptions help in inhibiting the HIV
virus, which causes AIDS, and in regulating the body’s
immunity systems.

Several other specialists at the conference described how
Chinese medicine or a combination of Chinese and
Western medicines were effective in treating the disease.

One newly developed Chinese medicine, known as Tach
(treatment of AIDS with Chinese medicine), is made
from more than 40 traditional Chinese herbal com-
pounds, each of which is made up of 20 or more herbal
drugs.

The compound prescriptions and herbal drugs in Tach
have been found to be effective in treating AIDS.

Tach has been produced in trial batches by pharmaceu-
tical companies in Gansu Province and Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region.

Scientists at the conference added, however, that
studying the disease is difficult in China because there
are few AIDS patients here.

A specialist in Chinese medicine from the Shanghai-
based Tach Co Ltd said Tach products should be used as
health foods rather than medicine because the ingredi-
ents in them are pure, natural products and have been
taken as health foods by Chinese people and overseas
Chinese for thousands of years.“



JPRS-TEP-90-016
30 October 1990 2 AIDS

SOUTH AFRICA

Heterosexual Pattern of HIV Cases Prevails (Johannesburg THE CITIZEN, 18 Aug 90]
Transvaal Leads in Reported AIDS Cases Johannesburg THE CITIZEN, 18 Aug 90] ..
Tuberculosis Killing Cape AIDS Victims [Jocelyn Maker; Cape Town THE ARGUS, 25 Aug
ANC Opposes AIDS Testing of Returning Exiles
[Chris Bates; Cape Town CAPE TIMES, 31 Aug 90] ..
Official Cites ‘Alarming’ Increase in AIDS (Johannesburg SAPA, 20 Sep 90]
Health Department Issues Report on AIDS (Johannesburg SAPA, 1 Oct 90]
Official Says National AIDS Cases Exceed 500 Johannesburg Domestic Service, 3 Oct 90]
AIDS Increase Among Children ‘Alarming’ {Johannesburg SAPA, 11 Oct 90] ..

Sowcwm win

SWAZILAND

Health Ministry Releases AIDS Statistics
[Gordon Mbuli; Mbabane THE TIMES OF SWAZILAND, 5 Oct 90] ..

TANZANIA

54 Die of AIDS in Mbeya Region Dar es Salaam External Service, 18 Sep 90]

ZIMBABWE

Cumulative Number of AIDS Cases Put at 5,086 (Johannesburg SAPA, 2 OCT 90] .
Masvingo Province Blood Donors Prove HIV Positive (Johannesburg SAPA, 1 Oct 90]
‘About’ 800,000 Infected With AIDS, HIV /Johannesburg SAPA, 5 Oct 90]

CHINA

Another 91 Chinese Infected by AIDS Virus [Zhu Baoxia; Beijing CHINA DAILY, 17 Jul 90]
Chinese Medicine Made To Treat AIDS [Xiao Chen; Beijing CHINA DAILY, 27 Aug 90) ....

EAST ASIA
JAPAN
WHO Chief Reports on AIDS Statistics at Osaka Conference (Tokyo KYODO, 16 Sep 90] -...ss.... 13
EAST ASIA
THAILAND

Government Sets 102 Million Baht Anti-AIDS Budget /Bangkok Domestic Service, 17 Sep 90] .... 14
Chiang Mai Prostitutes Surveyed on Anti-AIDS Measures
[Kampol Khodsaengma; Bangkok THE NATION, 5 Jul 90] ..
AIDS in Ranong Province, Burmese Connection /Bangkok BAN( y ig
Public Health Ministry Plans AIDS Measures for Burmese /Bangkok THE NATION, 5 Aug 90]
Measures To Fight AIDS (Bangkok THE NATION, 16 Aug 90] ...
Health Official Updates AIDS Figures by Risk Group /Bangkok BAN MUANG, 16 Aug 90]
Figures Given on HIV Positive Hilltribe Prostitutes /Bangkok BANGKOK POST, 1 Oct 90]

EAST EUROPE
HUNGARY

AIDS Data Provided /B Csaba Almasi; Budapest MAGYARORSZAG, 27 Jul 90] .... 17



IJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

24; Santa Rosa de Copan, with 20; Tela and La Lima,
with 12 each; Choloma, with 10; and Puerto Cortes, with
nine cases.

If projections continue as they have thus far, by the end
of this year 1,000 cases of that disease will have been
confirmed.

Enrique Zalaya, a public health official, gave a reminder
that, in 1985, two cases were reported; in 1986, 19; in
1987, 117; in 1988, 237; and in 1989, 481 confirmed
cases.

Zelaya claimed that there are in the country between
40,000 and 80,000 persons infected with the fatal dis-
ease, reiterating the fact that only a change in the
mentality of Hondurans as a whole can stop this spiral.

305 AIDS Victims Die in 5 Years

PA0710190390 Panama City ACAN in Spanish
1636 GMT 5 Oct 90

[All figures as received]

[Text] Tegucigalpa—A spokesman for the Health Min-
istry reported today that 305 AIDS patients died in
Honduras between 1985 and 1990, when a total of 932
cases were registered.

Enrique Zelaya, chief of the Epidemiology Division,
reported that three cases of people infected with the
deadly virus are registered every day, and if this trend
continues, there will be 1,800 confirmed cases in Hon-
duras by 1991.

He added that Honduras has 50 percent of the AIDS
cases of Central America, and that out of the total
number of cases, 280 are living, but the whereabouts of
345 are unknown.

Out of the 932 cases that have been registered, 31 are
children under 10 years of age, of which 22 contracted
the disease from their pregnant mothers and nine as a
result of blood transfusions.

The head of Epidemiology Division added that the
health authorities have only approximately $350,000 for
a prevention and treatment campaign.

The treatment for each AIDS victim costs the Honduran
Government about $700.

At present, there are 21 laboratories throughout the
country that perform tests to determine if a patient is a
carrier of the AIDS virus.

LATIN AMERICA 21

VENEZUELA

Perez Mandates AIDS Committee

90WE0332A Caracas EL DIARIO DE CARACAS
in Spanish 10 Aug 90 p 28

[Report by J.M.R.]

{Text] The number of AIDS cases in the country is
considerably higher than it appears in the official
records, possibly totaling as many as 15,000. In view of
this problem, President Carlos Andres Perez [CAP],
speaking in the Council of Ministers, ordered the forma-
tion of a high-level committee to take concrete action
against the disease.

He attended the cabinet meeting accompanied by health
minister Manuel Adrianza, and Dr. Nicolas Bianco,
chief of immunology at University Hospital, who
brought the proposal to create this committee. According
to the announcement, the associative body that will lead
the action against AIDS is comprised of the Ministries of
Health, of the Interior, Family, Education, Defense,
Justice, and Foreign Affairs. At next week’s cabinet
meeting Minister Adrianza will bring the text of the
decree, with a summons to the country to adopt concrete
measures.

Adrianza and Bianco explained the tragic situation to
CAP and his ministers, specifying the problem in statis-
tics: There are over 800 recorded victims, which prob-
ably means 2,500 additional unrecorded victims; how-
ever, many more may be infected. Adrianza remarked:
“We could certainly consider Venezuela to have from
10,000 to 15,000 victims infected with AIDS in the
country as a whole.”

The minister expressed the view that there is a need to
educate the country to deal with the problem; but, apart
from this, a consistent, intersectorial policy must be
initiated to cope with it on all levels: the victim, diag-
nosis, and both ambulatory and hospital treatment.

Other Topics

The cabinet approved an amendment to the law
financing the central regional waterworks, raising the
investment to 19.18 million bolivares. The project calls
for 14 bidding competitions, and will be completed in
1993. Moreover, a change was made in the regulations of
the Retirement and Pension Law for both national and
regional public administration employees.



Epidemiology
AIDS

JPRS-TEP-90-016 CONTENTS 30 October 1990

[This EPIDEMIOLOGY report contains only material on AIDS. Other epidemiology topics are covered in a later
issue.]
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
INTER-AFRICAN AFFAIRS
Danish Anthropologist On AIDS And Children

[Asger Werner Hansen; Copenhagen INFORMATION, 17 Jul 90] ..
Inter-African AIDS Workshop Opens in Ivory Coast

[Abidjan FRATERNITE MATIN, 27 Sep 90) ..... 2

ANGOLA

AIDS Patients Lack Access to AZT [Lisbon DIARIO DE NOTICIAS, 17 Sep 90] 3

AIDS Kills 136 of 176 Reported Cases [Luanda ANGOP, 17 Sep 90] ..... 3
BENIN

AIDS Seminar Ends 15 Sep [Cotonou Domestic Service, 15 Sep 90] .... 3
GHANA

AIDS National Advisory Council Inaugurated [London WEST AFRICA, 27 Aug-2 Sep 90] ..... 3
IVORY COAST

New AIDS Drug Introduced [Abidjan FRATERNITE MATIN, 28 Sep 90] .. 3
KENYA

AIDS Projection Exceeded Cases Reported /Otula Owuor; Nairobi DAILY NATION, 29 Aug 90] . 4
Worldwide Use of Kemron Said To Be Sought by Experts

[Otula Owuor; Nairobi DAILY NATION, 14 Sep 90] .... 4
Government Claims More Than 9,000 AIDS Cases {Nairobi KNA, 4 Oct 90]

MADAGASCAR

FRG Gives Medical Supplies To Fight AIDS
[Antananarivo MIDI MADAGASIRAKA, 7 Aug 90]

MALAWI

AIDS Cases Rising at ‘Alarming’ Rate [Blantyre Domestic Service, 6 Oct 90]
MALI

AIDS Figures for Bamako Cited (Bamako Domestic Service, 20 Sep 90]
MOZAMBIQUE

Experts Review Severity of AIDS Situation /Maputo NOTICIAS, 11 Aug 90] ...
AIDS Kills 11 People in Manica Province /Maputo Domestic Service, 21 Sep 90]

aw



SJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

term implies, improve an individual’s own ability to
resist disease, his immunity.

The testing of hundreds of molecules was proposed in
San Francisco, which it is hoped will advance research
on the HIV.

Juhani Lahdevirta nevertheless thinks that the future lies
in different sorts of drug compounds rather than in
individual drugs. He reminded us of the research on
tuberculosis in the 1950’s, when it was proved that
different drugs were effective against the disease. The
bacterium was not, however, controlled until they could
combine the different drugs into the same medication.

Nine Vaccines Being Developed

News of the development of a vaccine is more eagerly
awaited in the world than [new] drug treatments are.
Only a couple of years ago, a vaccine against the HIV
seemed to be hopeless, but experiments that are now
getting started involve at least nine compounds.

Since development of a substance that would prevent
infection has so far proved to be impossible, emphasis in
research has been chiefly focused on finding an antigenic
vaccine—that is, one that improves the individual’s
immunity.

Antigenic vaccines are based on the same idea as immu-
nomodulator drugs. An antigen introduces a foreign
substance into the organism that increases its ability to
resist the virus. As for an immunomodulator, it produces
a chemical reaction at the cell level that improves
immunity.

In tests conducted with chimpanzees in France and the
United States, they succeeded in slowing down the
advance of immunodeficiency with an antigenic vaccine,
Up to now, they have not been able to develop a vaccine
that can be clinically tested on humans.

In America they are trying to create a theoretical model
for a vaccine that would not only slow down reproduc-
tion of the virus, but would also render HIV infection
completely insignificant.

The goal is to create a compound that would prevent the
HIV from getting into CD4 cells. Although they have
already succeeded in theoretically creating it by con-
structing models with computers, it will still be years
before they develop practical application of the model.

ITALY

HIV Test for High-Risk Cases Developed
90MI0302 Milan ITALIA OGGI in Italian
12 Jul 90 p 43

[Article by Paula Tisicornia: “An Italian Test to Identify
HIV- Positive Cases at Greatest Risk”]

[Text] It’s a simple blood test that can be performed by
all laboratories and will make it possible to identify the

WEST EUROPE 29

HIV-positive patients most likely to contract the AIDS
virus. These patients can then be constantly monitored
and treated with suitable drugs.

This test for early HIV diagnosis, the only one to date
that can identify which of the patients in the initial stage
of the disease run the greatest risk of its developing into
AIDS, was presented at Chieti yesterday by its inventor,
47-year-old, Roman-born Stefano Iacobelli, director of
the Medical Oncology Department at the D’Annunzio
University in Chieti. The patent, which is owned jointly
by the University of Chieti and the National Research
Council (CNR), is also the result of cooperation with the
Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases and the
Institute of Clinical Medicine at the La Sapienza Uni-
versity in Rome and the Department of Infectious Dis-
eases at the San’Anna Hospital in Ferrara.

Professor Iacobelli, who has taught at the Catholic Uni-
versity of Rome since 1986, discovered the test almost
by chance. “Four years ago,” he explains “we produced
a monoclonal antibody that recognizes a protein in
patients suffering from breast cancer, and we started to
study it as an indicator for tumoral diseases.”

Almost at the same time however, it was discovered that
the same identical substance was present in the serum of
HIV-positive patients. We limited the field to the immu-
nodeficiency syndrome, and further research revealed
that this protein, which we called 90 K (molecular
i 10,000), is present in HIV-positive patients in
s directly proportional to the stage reached in
the disease. Thus, whereas four out of 10 HIV-positive
patients without symptoms (the initial phase of AIDS)
show high levels of 90 K, the portion increases to eight
out of 10 in the subsequent Arc phase, while all AIDS
patients give a positive result.

“In our opinion, the importance of this test is twofold,”
explains Stefano Iacobelli. “Firstly, it indicates precisely
who should receive AZT antiviral therapy and when.
This was a primary hurdle to clear, as this therapy takes
a very high toll on both society and the individual.
Secondly, the 90 K marker can serve as a treatment
indicator, monitoring its efficiency.”

A worldwide patent application for the test has already
been filed. Pending completion of the bureaucratic pro-
cedure, however (it will take approximately one year for
the official grant), the Italian patent will be proof of
precedence over any other claims.

How much can a discovery like this earn? “As we hold
the patent jointly with the CNR,” states Professor Iaco-
belli, “profits will be divided. In any case, the economic
side of a patent does not just depend on how good the
research is, but on the concrete interest that it stimulates
and on many other factors as well.”

Before the test can be routinely performed in Italian
laboratories, it will also need the endorsement of the



24 WEST EUROPE

CANADA

AIDS Epidemic ‘Tapering Off
90WE0339A Toronto THE GLOBE AND MAIL
in English 21 Aug 90 pp B20, B21

[Article by Patrick Sullivan]

[Excerpts] As Canada’s life insurance companies prepare
to enter their second AIDS decade, there is optimism
that the disease’s impact on the industry won’t be as
severe as first feared.

“Early on, it seemed as if everyone was going to get it,”
said Dr Claude Lauriault, medical director at Metropol-
itan Life Insurance Co. of Ottawa. He said the epidemic
now appears to have “tapered off” in Canada.

“If you think of the numbers here and then compare
them with the ones in the US, the problem in Canada is
not nearly as bad. The epidemic has had a much bigger
effect on American companies than Canadian ones.”

The Federal Center for AIDS said 3,956 cases of
acquired immune deficiency syndrome had been
reported in Canada by July 23. If the disease were
progressing at the same rate as in the United States, there
would have been about 14,000 cases.

Still, Canadian insurance companies’ response to AIDS
has been dramatic. CLIMOA, the Canadian Life Insur-
ance Medical Officers Association, says the companies
now order about 300,000 tests annually to check appli-
cants’ blood for the human immunodeficiency virus that
causes AIDS. “When you get a certain level (of policy
size), testing is indicated for the financial health of the
industry,” said Dr Thomas Porter, medical director at
Toronto-based Imperial Life Assurance Co.

He makes no apologies for this mass screening and says
it would not be needed “if we could be certain that all
people would answer all questions reliably.”

About one person in every 2,500 tested will have a
Positive result, meaning that the 300,000 annual tests
will turn up 120 people who are infected with HIV and
will be denied insurance,

Richard Burzynski, executive director of the Ottawa-
based Canadian AIDS Society, said AIDS groups realize
the disease has had a major impact on the insurance
industry. “What we are saying is let’s look for a new way
of doing things,” he said. “Just to say that people are
uninsurable because they have AIDS is a fiscal issue, but
where is the ethical one? Perhaps a more creative solu-
tion is available.”

Insurance executive Ronald Barbaro agrees. In 1988, the
president and chief executive officer of Prudential Insur-
ance Co. of America, Toronto, quietly launched a pro-
gram called Living Benefits, a concept that has since
been picked up by other companies around the world.
With it, a policy holder with a terminal illness is eligible

JPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

for immediate payment of 50 percent of a policy’s death
benefit, to a maximum of $50,000. To qualify, a person
needs a certificate from his attending physician stating
that he has 12 months or less to live.

He said “well over 50” of Prudential’s Canadian clients
have benefited from the plan, with one-third of the early
payments going to AIDS patients.

David Allen, vice-president and chief financial officer
with Manulife Financial Holdings Ltd. in Waterloo,
Ont., headed a Canadian Institute of Actuaries com-
mittee that developed a model that predicted the impact
AIDS would have on the insurance industry. “What has
happened is that the numbers (of new cases) were a bit
less than we anticipated. Our model said they should
keep heading up, and instead they have started to level
off. The big question now is crossover to the hetero-
sexual population.”

Intravenous drug use is the main vector for this cross-
over, as infected users spread the disease by sharing
needles and through sexual contact.

DENMARK

Party Chief Backs Mandatory AIDS Register

90WE0311B Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE
in Danish 4 Aug 90 p 11

[Letter to the Editor by Pia Kjaersgaard, Folketing
member and political spokesman for the Progress Party]

[Text] When they keep on discussing whether HIV-
positive individuals should be registered, the politicians
in the Folketing apparently still do not understand how
serious the AIDS disease is. The Progress Party again
asks that everybody who is found to be HIV-positive
should be registered and that everybody should be able
to be tested for that deadly ailment. When an individual
is admitted, it should be possible to make the test at any
hospital for the purpose of identifying or isolating car-
tiers of the disease. Hospitals should have the right to
test for the HIV-positive condition—also for the reason
that the personnel should know whether they are dealing
with an infected person who could transmit the disease
to the personnel during an operation, etc. AIDS is the
life-threatening disease of our time, and it hits both
heterosexual and homosexual individuals, so that one
can only be safe if one takes protective measures. Con-
sciously infecting others with AIDS should naturally also
be made an offense. One hears all too frequently of
people who have been found to be HIV-positive but have
continued an active sex life without taking protective
measures and informing their sex partners of the danger
of infection. The Progress Party will continue to urge
that the population’s awareness of this frightening dis-
ease, AIDS, be aroused, so that the registrations that are
so much needed for putting a stop to the spreading of the
disease can be started soon. If that is not done, how is it
going to be possible to perform research on a disease



8 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

According to statistics from the Department of National
Health and Population Development 187 cases were
recorded in Johannesburg.

In the Cape 82 cases, in Natal 132 cases and 13 cases in
the Orange Free State were recorded up to August 8 this
year.

Altogether 245 cases were transmitted homosexually and
153 heterosexually.

Tuberculosis Killing Cape AIDS Victims

90WE0341C Cape Town THE ARGUS in English
25 Aug 90 p 2

[Article by Jocelyn Maker, Weekend ARGUS Reporter:
“TB Biggest Threat to Cape AIDS Victims...”]

{Text] Tuberculosis, which has become an epidemic in
the Western Cape, will be one of the main infections that
will eventually kill people with the AIDS virus.

About five in every 1,000 people have TB and almost
half will end up with full-blown AIDS within eight years
of infection, researchers have estimated.

Although AIDS is rampant in many African countries
and the Cape has the second-highest number of reported
cases, there is hope.

The epidemic is still in its early stages in South Africa
and much can be done to fight the spread of the deadly
virus.

Three AIDS experts from the Medical Research Coun-
cil—the deputy president Dr Walter Prozesky, senior-
biostatistician Dr Robert Schall and Dr Malcolm Stein-
berg, senior epidemiologist in charge of the AIDS
research programme—have expressed optimism.

AIDS Education

They say a massive AIDS education drive involving
young children in schools, their parents and teachers is
needed to fight the disease.

Education authorities have been urged to encourage
programmes on prevention and to remove barriers on
sex education.

The researchers believe the government needs to be
encouraged further in fighting the spread of AIDS and
that more funds should be given to communities to make
the campaign effective.

“We still have time,” said Dr Prozesky. “We are behind
in the epidemic and we can learn from what has hap-
pened in other countries.”

SJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

A recent two-week awareness programme at a Guguletu
school was a good example of the type of AIDS educa-
tion needed. Researchers believe these programmes are
among the most effective ways of reaching pupils and
parents.

“The (staff and parents) were courageous enough to go
forward and they had the support of their principal and
an enthusiastic guidance teacher,” said Dr Steinberg.

The programme at the school is to be assessed by the
Medical Research Council and the findings applied to
other schools.

The AIDS fortnight was launched once parents, teachers
and pupils had agreed to it.

ANC Opposes AIDS Testing of Returning Exiles

MB0509070990 Cape Town CAPE TIMES in English
31 Aug 90 p 3

[Report by Chris Bates: “ANC Against AIDS Tests for
Exiles”]

[Text] The ANC [African National Congress] was “abso-
lutely opposed” to the compulsory testing of returning
exiles for the AIDS virus and had implemented a com-
prehensive AIDS education campaign as soon as the
killer disease became evident in Africa.

This was said by a senior ANC spokesman in Johannes-
burg yesterday.

She was reacting to news that six HIV-infected ANC
Umkonto we Sizwe [Spear of the Nation—ANC military
wing] prisoners had been transferred from the Pollsmoor
Prison hospital to jails nearer their homes on Monday
[27 Aug].

A seventh prisoner, originally a Uitenhage resident, was
transferred from Pollsmoor Prison to Somerset Hospital
on Monday and is in a “seriously debilitated” condition,
lawyers representing him said yesterday.

The ANC spokesperson said her organisation totally
supported an individual’s right to a private life and
called for the immediate release of imprisoned AIDS
sufferers who needed “extra care and attention”.

Imprisonment made it “virtually impossible to come to
terms with your own mortality”, while the disease
demanded as little stress as possible, she added.

ANC members were “highly responsible”, and she hoped
that individuals who suspected they might be infected
with the virus would voluntarily go for testing.

“There can be no question of compulsion,” she empha-
sised.

As soon as AIDS became evident in Africa the ANC has
embarked on a policy of education which included
teaching how the disease was contracted and. how to
avoid it, she added.



IJPRS-TEP-90-016
30 Oct 1990

TANZANIA

54 Die of AIDS in Mbeya Region

EA1909073290 Dar es Salaam External Service
in English 1600 GMT 18 Sep 90

[Text] Mbeya—54 people have died of AIDS in Mbeya
Region between January and June this year out of 907
AIDS cases recorded in the period. The Mbeya regional
AIDS coordinator, Ndugu [Comrade] George Mwasenga
said this has brought the number of people who had died
of AIDS to 177 since the first AIDS case was reported in
the region in 1986. He said Mbeya municipality was
leading with 37 deaths, followed by Chunya with 15
deaths, while Mbeya Rural District, Kyela, Rungwe and
Tleje Districts recorded one death each. No death was
reported in Mbozi District. Ndugu Mwasenga said apart
from 11 seminars on AIDS held in the region, his office,
in collaboration with the organization of the FRG, was
organizing a series of seminars on AIDS for traditional
midwives and healers and guest houses, bars, pombe
[beer] shops and hotel attendants.

ZIMBABWE

Cumulative Number of AIDS Cases Put at 5,086

MBO0310061290 Johannesburg SAPA in English
2259 GMT 2 OCT 90

[Text] Harare—The cumulative number of AIDS cases
reported in Zimbabwe up to August this year stood at
5086, Health Minister Timothy Stamps said at the
Zimbabwe Medical Association meeting on Tuesday,
reports ZIANA national news agency.

This means there were 1952 new AIDS cases reported in
July and August, since the cumulative number of full-
blown AIDS cases at the end of June stood at 3,134.

The increase in the second quarter of 1990 was 777 and
725 in the first quarter.

Last month Mr Stamps was reported as saying that, in
addition to the 3,134 confirmed cases to the end of June,
there were 1804 cases of HIV-related diseases and the
real AIDS figure, as opposed to the reported confirmed
cases, was estimated to stand at 9,000, three times the
confirmed figure.

Working on the same basis with the latest AIDS figure,
three times the total of 5,086 would be 15,258.

Mr Stamps said there had been an increase in the
percentage of blood donors found to be HIV positive.

In August alone 5,481 donors, which represented 5.71
percent of donors, were found to be HIV positive.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA : 1"

Masvingo Province Blood Donors Prove HIV
Positive

MBO110111390 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1012 GMT 1 Oct 90

[Text] Masvingo—A large quantity of blood donated to the
blood transfusion service [BTS] and sent to the AIDS
screening laboratary in Masvingo has been rejected after
testing positive for HIV (the AIDS virus), ZIANA news
agency reported.

According to the BTS officials, over 1,000 people
donated blood in Masvingo Province during the past
three months but more than half of the blood donated
tested positive for HIV.

The officials said they were becoming worried about the
escalating number of young people being found HIV
positive when tested for the virus.

“These teenagers are acquiring the virus through sexual
contacts. We have been trying to discourage them from
engaging in sexual activities at such early stages but to no
avail,” said one of the officials.

“We are therefore urging them, if they don’t want to stop
their sexual activities, to be at least careful and use
protective methods,” said another official.

‘About’ 800,000 Infected With AIDS, HIV
MBO0510170090 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1450 GMT 5 Oct 90

[Text] Harare —Treatment of AIDS patients is expected to
cost medical aid societies in Zimbabwe ZD1.7 million
[Zimbabwe dollars] in 1992 and to rise to more than ZD53
million in the year 2017, the national news agency ZIANA
reports.

General manager of Cimas Medical Aid Society Mr.
Richard Hore told the national forum at Harare on
Friday that the cost would increase as the number of
AIDS and HIV infected people was rising by the day.

He said the increase in the cost of looking after AIDS
patients would have serious economic implications, due
to the ever increasing cost of drugs and stays in hospitals.

He said that, while official figures showed that about
500,000 people were HIV infected, he believed there were
about 800,000 HIV infected people in Zimbabwe and
warned of a reduction in the country’s population as a
result. ‘

He said the most affected age groups were those between
20 to 29 years (32.68 percent) and birth to four years
(29.37 percent), and these constituted a large proportion
of the beneficiaries of medical aid societies.

Mr. Hore, who spoke on the implication of the increasing
incidence of AIDS, said the use of condoms was the only
“vaccine” for the prevention of AIDS in Zimbabwe, and
urged all those who could not change their sexual behav-
iour to use them.