UN envoy Stephen Lewis:

"If the world responded to the AIDS pandemic with the same resources as it is fighting terrorism, millions of lives could be saved.  On September 11, 2001, three thousand people died in a horrific terrorist act and within a few days, the world was talking about hundreds of billions of dollars to fight terrorism.  But in 2001, 2.3 million Africans died of AIDS and you have to beg and plead to find a few hundred million dollars to spend."⁽¹⁾

From a 2003 World Health Organization report:

In southern Africa, in the countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic (Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe), life expectancy has dropped by 20 years to less than 40 years.⁽²⁾  By contrast, life expectancy in the United States is now over 77 years.⁽³⁾

For background, see:

	"AIDS: The Agony of Africa," Pulitzer-prize-winning articles by Mark Schoofs published in The Village Voice
	UN AIDS (United Nations AIDS organization)
	CIA (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency) on AIDS epidemic as threat to U.S. security
	Ernie Drucker, Ph.D., on preventing drug-related AIDS in developing countries.

Footnotes

(1) Agence France Presse. 2002. "Taken seriously as terrorism, AIDS can be beaten: UN envoy." March 14.

(2) "AIDS is Cutting African Life Span to 30-Year Low, Report Says." 2003. New York Times. December 18.

(3) Press Release. 2003.  U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. March 14.

For a list of other materials used on this website, see References.