Abstract
The experience of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Africa is very different from that in the developed world. In the West, AIDS affects few people, and for those who are infected, it is an increasingly manageable illness. In Africa, huge numbers of people are being infected - mainly young adults through sexual intercourse. This is having a dramatic effect on key demographic indicators. Child mortality in some countries has doubled, while up to 25 years of life expectancy have been lost. The economic impact of AIDS is difficult to establish, but it is certainly leading to increased poverty in African families and communities. Development advances are being reversed, but the impact is incremental rather than catastrophic.