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economist suntribune laorld issues saturday may 18 2002 11 aids the latest killer in ethiopia by kathleen griffin staff writer the most effective way to teach ethiopians about the potentially fatal consequences of unprotected sex is one person at a time experts say but in a country of more than 64 million people thats more than just impractical its impossible as a result hivaids is spreading unchecked across this horn of africa country with devastating effects on an already suffering population and an already weak economy consider these statistics more than 3 million people in ethiopia are living with hivaids 250000 of them children under five one million children have been orphaned because of aids and while there are orphanages in the capital addis ababa the majority of those chil dren are now living on the streets there are 5000 new cases diag nosed each week most a result of unprotected heterosexual sex by 2005 ethiopia will lose 83 per cent of its potential workforce through aidsrelated deaths hiv aids has already reduced time spent on agriculture by 42 per cent for affected households households already at risk because they cant grow enough food to feed themselves nor sell for needed supplies 10 to 20 per cent of pregnant women are hiv positive and the virus is transferred to their babies 35 per cent of the time the majority die before their fifth birthday 50 per cent of ethiopian hospital beds are occupied with people with aids among sex workers between 10 to 38 per cent are infected that percent age rises to closer to 80 per cent in urban areas there are no mass communications systems there few people living out side cities have electricity and 85 per cent of the population is rural even fewer people have tvs or radios or access to more than a primary education 70 per cent of the people hear about the dangers of aids in a community meeting there are so many different tribes all with different thinking we have to find a way to make them take the issue more seriously and that means in a sitespecific way explained marian casey an emergency assistance advi sor for the canadian international development agencys program sup- port unit in addis ababa but there is extreme poverty here they know theyre going to die its hard to worry about hiy she said what we have to get across to peo ple are the real effects of living with hiv aids lost income sickness health care bills things they can pre vent while a national task force on hivaids was formed in 1985 the effort was halfhearted and the pro grams largely ineffective by 1998 the effects of the epidemic were becoming more obvious and a national policy on aids prevention was formed with 63 million in world bank funding to back it up options include awareness and education programs at the community level incorporating aids policy into democracy and governance improve ments pushing it as a human rights issue and advocating for universal pre cautions such as blood transfusion screening are all being considered or implemented now while ms casey pointed out things are improving she laments the lost time between the mid80s and the cri sis the country will face in the next 10 years per capita income for the already poor now an average of 137 us a year will drop at least 10 per cent in that time every income earner will take on four new dependents as a result of hivaids and onequarter of all households can expect to lose an income earner to the virus in the next decade because no one saw the effects of it it was easy for the government to ignore and there have been 10 lost years because of it ms casey said but she and other workers like her are facing more than just a lack of gov- women have been circumcised and 30 per cent of the population believes in polygamy views on family planning gender equality and prostitution are much different than in the western world however the fight against aids must be waged along those fronts awareness raising for us starts with the men explained kuleni berhanu gender advisor for cidas program support unit if the woman has to convince the man forget about it the men often see see family page 12 marian casey government ignored aids for 10 years no one saw the effects of it she says yorkdurham aphasia centre yorkdurham aphasia centre is celebrating 10 years of service helping adults with communication loss for a meaningful volunteer role call the yorkdurham aphasia centre at 905 6422053 12184 ninth line stouffville ontario l4a3n6 this message brought to you as a community service of the economist suntribune inter premium brand names quality and low low prices markham- 8400 woodbine ave 3rd floor inside the furniture mall just s of hwy7 9054750705 mtnmm while you browse during the weekend relax at our instore cappuccino bar with fresh baked cookies mississauga 3050vega blvd hwy 403 and dundas next to sears chapters 905569670 off all regular pricedflopr models only models may not be exactly as shown not all floor models may be available