They advised the South African government to take the bulk of resources now used for AIDS care and devote them instead to the prevention of tuberculosis, malaria, and enteric diseases. They supported improvements in nutrition and sanitation and the promotion of sex education to avoid STD transmission and unintended pregnancies. AIDS in Africa and other parts of the world is related not just to HIV and sex, but to the influence of poverty, warfare, and migration. For example, he explains, in large cities populations are migrant, with disrupted families and sexual mixing in the population that is less stable than in traditional social settings. He adds that warfare migration is an important factor in the increase of sexually transmitted diseases.
Warfare is nearly constant on the African continent.
In the worst hit South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, one in three women were diagnosed as HIV positive. The estimated number of South Africans living with HIV infection is 4.2 million, or just under 10 percent of the population. About 1600 new infections occur each day in South Africa. Because the process is ongoing, Gayle of the CDC preferred not to discuss the panel's work. However, CDC issued a statement.