Before diving into the causes and effects of HIV/AIDS on African society, it is necessary to understand AIDS as a disease; it's origin, transmission, and development.

Tissue preserved in 1959 from a central African man has recently been identified as the earliest known case. Many speculate that AIDS may have spread from the blood of hunted chimpanzees to their butchers' in the years after WWII.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is transmitted through bodily fluids, including blood, semen, and vaginal secretions. Most commonly, it is transferred through sexual contact, intravenous drug use where needles are shared, and through blood transfusions.

HIV/AIDS is a viral disease which tends to progress in three distinct stages. Within the first several weeks after infection, acute, flu-like symptoms develop, an

Economically, for example, in South Africa along, HIV/AIDS is expected to cost the country one percent of its gross domestic product by 2005 and to consume three quarters of the nation's health budget. With respect to population, although there is still growth, life expectancy is decreasing drastically, mortality is increasing and fertility is decreasing. The male/female ratio is increasing as more and more women succumb to the disease. Famine is spreading as farmers die, and children are becoming orphans as they watch their parents and other family members lose their lives to AIDS. Perhaps, however, the most demoralizing effect has been the sense of shame, fear, and denial that the people of Africa have developed. Many choose not to be tested out of fear that they are infected, and thereby bring upon their family and loved ones despair and disappointment. Women who have been infected take the lives of their children and partners into their own hands by not being tested, or by, if they do get tested, not returning to receive the results.6

As a whole, the sub-Saharan region of Africa has been the hardest hit in the AIDS pandemic. Since the beginning of the crisis, 11.5 million people of this region have died. One quarter of those deaths were among children. These deaths accounted for 83 percent of all deaths worldwide, where only one tenth of the worlds' population reside. As well, an estimated two thirds of the 34 million people living with AIDS live here.7 In 1987, it was reported that for every AIDS victim, there are fifty carriers. Even more striking is the estimate that

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