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CNN Live Today

Terrorism's Ripple Effect on AIDS

Aired July 11, 2002 - 12:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: One difficult task facing any nation battling AIDS is the cost of health care. Botswana is hardest hit by AIDS, but it had a treasure trove in its diamond mines until the attacks of September 11 affected the market.

CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from the International AIDS Conference in Spain to talk a little bit more about this -- Sanjay, it's interesting.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is very interesting.

We have certainly heard so many discouraging stories, quite honestly, about sub-Saharan African countries that have had such a hard time with AIDS, suffered so much from the impact of AIDS. But we did find one country, one story about a country that decided to fight back, but then found terrorism standing in its way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Botswana is one of the smallest countries in Africa. And nearly 40 percent of the adults are infected with HIV. That's a percentage higher than anywhere else in the world. And, like most countries in Africa, only a fraction can afford the medicines that, in the West, keep HIV infection from becoming a death sentence.

But Botswana is lucky, because it has a diamond-fed economy, so the government can afford the powerful medicines. Earlier this year, it launched the first program in Africa to provide them.

JOY PHUMAPHI, BOTSWANAN HEALTH MINISTER: We have to stop the spread of the virus. Our target is that, by 2016, we should have no new infections.

GUPTA: The program is already showing results, even in its earliest stages. Sinah Kgwaraga almost died last year.

SINAH KGWARAGA, HIV PATIENT: I can encourage people to take them because these drugs have brought back my life.

GUPTA (on camera): Like diamonds, the program is not cheap. It's expected to cost more than $1 billion over the next four years. The government had said it would pay 80 percent of that, given strong diamond sales. But then September 11: terrorism. And diamond sales from the United States dropped.

KGWARAGA: We are relying so heavily on diamonds that, if the sales of diamonds goes down, that is going to seriously compromise the quality, effectiveness and the scale of our program.

GUPTA (voice-over): The Botswana government hopes the decline is only temporary and that Americans realize how small the world really is.

KGWARAGA: We want people who buy diamonds in countries like the U.S. to remember that, when you buy a diamond, you are providing a drug that is going to save a child's life in Botswana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: And while this is not an ad for purchasing diamonds, it is a clear example of how American markets are affecting AIDS care, in this case, on the other side of the globe -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Sanjay, it's a great excuse to buy diamonds, I've got to tell you that.

But on a more serious note, tell us what else is being talked about. We have talked about -- you have given us personal stories like this. We've talked about drugs. We've talked about the children. What are some other tidbits you can tell us that's coming out of this conference?

GUPTA: Well, the big story today was certainly former President Clinton and Nelson Mandela, are at the conference now. President Clinton actually attended an MTV event where he specifically talked to the youth about HIV. And he made some very interesting points.

Certainly, one of the big questions has been how much the United States is actually going to fund to the global fund. So far, $500 million has been pledged by the end of 2003. President Clinton strongly urged $2.5 billion, five times what has already been spent, and equated that, said that that is actually what the United States has ready spent in two months in the war against Afghanistan. He thinks that much money should at least be spent on this war as well against AIDS.

He has also talked about the fact that we have to keep in mind that Russia is the place where the fastest-growing epidemic in the world is: more cases of AIDS in Russia last year than in the previous 14 years combined. He says that is a real problem, because Russia is a potentially unstable place. And we have got to be really concerned about AIDS and HIV in that location. The Caribbean as well, where people are immigrating from the Caribbean, AIDS has become much more rampant there. And that is something that can profoundly affect citizens of the United States.

So, these are some of the points that were being made today, certainly messages we've been hearing for a long time, but now being echoed by many world leaders. Some of them will be actually getting here all together tonight as well. PHILLIPS: Sanjay Gupta, live from Barcelona -- thanks, Sanjay.

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