Meanwhile, absolute numbers of infected persons are on the rise, particularly in many rural regions of the Third World. The UN organizations are calling on governments to pay greater attention to rural developments in their anti-AIDS efforts.
Rural areas have less access to information, consultation and testing.
Condoms are very hard to come by. Moreover, many people stricken with AIDS return to their villages from the cities. Their families have to pay for most of their food, medical care, medicine and burial rites. Agricultural Development Policies give far too little emphasis to these burdens. Caring for AIDS patients is very time-consuming.