A MYTH TOO GOOD TO LET GO OF::

Aids in Africa 'overestimated' (Adrian Blomfield, 09/01/2004, Daily Telegraph)

Millions of Africans believed to have HIV/Aids are free of the disease, according to research published yesterday.

The survey will dismay those who claim the West is ignoring a pandemic so acute it could wipe out the populations of entire African states.

Scientists said the new report would force a rethink in the way the United Nations measures Aids prevalence on the continent.

The preliminary report of the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey suggested that HIV has infected about one million adults in the country. Previous estimates put the number at up to three million.

Earlier surveys in Mali, Zambia and South Africa hinted that Aids might not be as widespread as believed, but scientists said the new data provided conclusive evidence.

No predominantly sexually-transmitted disease that is not passed from women to men could ever achieve the kinds of numbers they were talking about, so you knew something was going on.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 8, 2004 11:27 PM