With 16,000 new HIV infections worldwide each day and scientists predicting it will be 10 to 20 years before we have an effective vaccine, here's something new to worry about: Global warming and the growing food crisis will likely make the AIDS epidemic even worse. That was the consensus at an HIV/AIDS forum held at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia yesterday. The Age reports:
Prominent HIV scientist Professor David Cooper, director of the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, agreed environmental change would have a negative impact on HIV sufferers.
"Climate change will lead to food scarcity and poorer nutrition, putting people with perilous immune systems at more risk of dying of HIV, as well as contracting and transmitting new and unusual infections," Prof Cooper said.
I'd add that as food becomes scarcer and more expensive, more women will be forced into prostitution to provide for themselves and their families. When prostitution becomes more prevalent, entire populations are at greater risk for contracting the disease. It's all connected.
--Dana Goldstein
