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Expected Government Chiefs Send Subordinates Instead Continent Hosts World's Twenty-one Worst-Hit Nations |
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By Jack Nichols
Lusaka, Zambia-- In a scenario tailor-made to make anti-government anarchist theory sound reasonable,
African heads of state failed to attend the opening ceremonies of the 11th international conference
on AIDS in Africa where 5,000 delegates from Africa and elsewhere met. Twenty-one nations with the
highest HIV prevalence in the world are all in Africa while in half of these countries, 10 percent of their
populations are HIV-positive.
Not even host nation Zambian President Frederick Chiluba sppeared. He'd been expected to officially inaugurate the meeting until the day of his no-show. Nor was an official explanation forthcoming. Unofficial sources at the Conference said that the President had left Lusaka for a meeting with Laurent Kabila, head of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Even the ten worst hit nations, such as Zimbabwe and South Africa, sent only their health ministers to represent them. Malawi and Zambia were represented by their Vice Presidents while prime ministers represented Mozambique and Swaziland.
Kirsti Lintonen of the European Union, asked that Africa's missing political elite shoulder the primary responsibilities that the scourge of AIDS represents and that they show ethical leadership as well. "It needs to be realised that HIV/AIDS is as much a political and economic question as it is a medical problem besides being a human tragedy at a personal level," she said. Thirty-three million HIV-positive people are estimated now living in Africa. |
