Did you know that 42% of the pregnant women in Swaziland are HIV positive? That's what Tertia told me anyway, via Twitter. I'm not sure where she got the stat, or even whether the stat is based on ante-natal clinic attendance. Still, it's a pretty shocking stat.
According to UNAIDS/WHO, around 5.7 million South Africans were living with HIV at the end of 2007, including 280,000 children under 15 years old. This means that 1 in 5 adults is HIV positive and almost 1,000 AIDS deaths occur every day.
In 2007, 337 641 people were reported to be living with TB, and this figure was expected to rise to over 500 000 in 2008. The WHO ranks SA as the 4th worst TB country in the world, and TB is SA's number 1 killer, not AIDS.
When plagues hit the UK and Europe several centuries ago, and everyone was fleeing the cities, it was the Christians who stayed to care for the sick and dying. Today, in SA, we are surrounded by two deadly diseases, which might be considered new 'plagues'. With illnesses like these on our doorsteps, what is our response in the 21st century?
1 comment:
Oh have him induced on my birthday the 3rd of June!!! :-)
Post a Comment