TIME EUROPE
July 17, 2000 VOL. 156 NO. 3
Fatal Destiny
Experts are meeting in South Africa to combat a plague ravaging the continent — but already there are disputes over the right strategy
By PETER HAWTHORNE Cape Town
The venue for this week's 13th International Aids Conference is tellingly close to the cutting edge of a continental apocalypse. Outside Durban, in some parts of rural KwaZulu-Natal, the hiv-aids infection figures are among the highest in the world. South Africa, the most developed economy in the subcontinent, is facing a devastating onslaught of the disease, with 4.2 million people infected — 10% of the population. In the space of five days, during which more than 10,000 delegates will discuss the subject, there will be at least 9,000 new hiv infections in South Africa, 2,600 progressions from hiv to aids, and 1,800 deaths.
Researchers and medical experts say that the situation is worse than a disaster because most disasters have a foreseeable end. There is none in sight to the advance of aids across Africa. With areas of high population density, extreme poverty, migrant labor and dysfunctional family life, South Africa is a microcosm of the way aids can spread and the socioeconomic fallout of the pandemic. According to a recent survey by ING Barings, the international corporate and investment bank, one third of the country's semiskilled and unskilled work force will be HIV-positive in 2005. Apart from the immediate human cost, researchers say productivity could slump by 50%. "aids will define the future structure and shape of society and the business environment in Africa," says Alan Whiteside, one of the country's leading aids experts.
The approach to the problem in South Africa has become sadly snared in controversy and bureaucratic red tape. Last month, when the South African government announced a five-year strategic plan against aids, many skeptics were asking whatever happened to a similar initiative drawn up in 1994. President Thabo Mbeki, always an eloquent campaigner for aids awareness, added to the mixed signals by inviting onto his aids advisory panel scientists who question the link between hiv and aids. Such a dispute in a country standing "on the cusp of a horror," says University of Pretoria researcher Hein Marais, is tantamount to telling firemen to put down their hoses and argue about the causes of the fire.
Last week, in advance of the Durban conference, some 5,000 doctors and scientists from aids research centers around the world signed a declaration saying that the evidence that aids is caused by hiv is "clear-cut, exhaustive and unambiguous" and that the battle against aids needs "research, not myths."
A spokesman for the office of President Mbeki, who was due to open the Durban conference at the weekend, described the doctors' declaration as rubbish. While the debate rages, so too does the plague that is laying waste the homelands of Africa.
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July 17, 2000
COVER
The Lure of Ecstasy
The elixir best known for powering raves is an 80-year-old illegal drug. But it's showing up outside clubs too, and advocates claim it even has therapeutic benefits. Just how dangerous is it?
Rave New World
It's more than just ecstasy. The youth culture is in thrall to deejays and floats on the relentless beat of electronic music
EUROPE
Putin's Hard 100
The honeymoon's over for Russia's new leader as he battles on military, political and economic fronts
Putin's Chechnya Nightmare
The War the Kremlin Said Was Won
The Haider Effect
Isolated and angry over diplomatic sanctions, Austria threatens to raise the stakes on E.U. enlargement
That's Another Fine Mess
An underage drinking spree sees Euan Blair arrested, and his dad nursing a political hangover
Sun, Sand and Toxic Waste
For the first time ever the European Court of Justice fines an E.U. member state
Europe's Not Up in Arms
A Euro Army is the declared goal, but there's more smoke than firepower
MIDDLE EAST
Why Arafat's in a State
He wants a Palestinian nation, but fears that his people won't forgive him if he makes concessions
The Modern Mullah
One of the architects of Khomeini's revolution has become a guru of Islamic reform in Iran
AFRICA
Fatal Destiny
Experts are meeting in South Africa to combat a plague ravaging the continent — but already there are disputes over the right strategy
Death Row
Kenyans would rather not talk about the disease that is destroying lives and threatening the economy
The Cost Of Living
Pharmaceutical Companies and Drugs
A Distant Mirror
Europe's Black Death is a history lesson in human tragedy — and economic renewal
BUSINESS
Keep the Change
Turkey's government takes on the structural problems at the heart of the country's economy
The Infoanarchist
Could this 23-year-old Irish programmer begin to unravel the Web?
The Data Haven
Closely Guarded Secrets
RELIGION
The Stained Glass Ceiling
Despite stubbornly held conservative attitudes, women are claiming their place in the pulpit
DEPARTMENTS
To Our Readers
Tech Watch
World Watch
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