Bleak AIDS news from South Africa

The South African Medical Journal says the AIDS situation in that country is so grim that life expectancy will probably plunge from 64 to 47 years during the next 12 years. Unlike Canada, where the number of AIDS cases is declining, South Africa is being attacked by the disease at all levels.

The SAMJ says 200 HIV-infected babies are being born in the country every day; roughly 3 million South Africans - 1 in 10 - are infected with the virus. The South African Department of Health says the country has "failed dismally in controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS in our country. It is disconcerting that of the 20 million cases of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa, 2.8 million come from this country, even though the epidemic here started later than in other parts of Africa."