No, Parket Mitchell and George Roter, it is not universally agreed that 40,000 people in Africa die of AIDS every week! Even the estimates (not actual numbers) of WHO/UNAIDS are only about one-fifth of that. [from: WHO/UNAIDS - AIDS Epidemic Update: December 2004]
But the bigger question is: What is AIDS in Africa? Few people seem to know, or care, or realize the significance of it being a completely different condition than in richer countries. No HIV test is generally performed. Instead, three of these four symptoms -- persistent cough, fever, diarrhea, weight loss (>10% of weight) -- get you an AIDS diagnosis (according to WHO's 'Bangui' definition). Does this sound like malaria, TB or the effects of malnutrition to you?
But the nice thing, from the point of view of multinational drug companies, is that people are falling over themselves to spend money on antiretroviral drugs. These people not only don't know what AIDS really is, but they must have no clue about the serious, often fatal, side effects of these drugs. Only by concluding that everyone with fever, cough, diarrhea and weight loss is going to die could such toxic compounds be prescribed.
Many people taking AIDS drugs in North America become dependent on blood transfusions to live because severe anemia is a common side effect. Anemia is already a huge problem in Africa and transfusions or exotic drugs to counter it are not common.
So, send your money to the Tsunami victims, or to old-fashioned third world development, don't send it to AIDS charities unless you know what AIDS is and unless you're comfortable with the toxicity profile of the drugs.
