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Saturday Morning News

Africa Works to Implement Ideas from International AIDS Conference

Aired July 15, 2000 - 9:30 a.m. ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The 13th International AIDS Conference has ended in Durban, South Africa. In that country and other parts of the African continent, millions of people have died and millions more will die.

Ideas and solutions were plentiful at the conference. The problem now is setting them in motion.

Here's CNN medical correspondent Eileen O'Connor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The father of South Africa says his countrymen did not defeat the racist system of apartheid alone, and neither can they defeat AIDS by themselves.

NELSON MANDELA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA: If we are to combat the spread and the impact of AIDS, we need a concerted effort by people from all walks of life.

O'CONNOR: This conference heard promising news on vaccines that teach the body's immune system to fight HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, without more costly drugs.

DR. SETH BERKLEY, INTERNATIONAL AIDS VACCINE INITIATIVE: We will have a range of really exciting products that are moving forward. Five to seven years from now, we'll know if some of those work.

O'CONNOR: But in five to seven years, experts estimate there will be nearly 30 million orphans of AIDS. At this clinic in Cape Town, the government has been giving pregnant women with HIV the drug AZT to prevent mother-to-child transmission. South African officials say they are also willing to widen the use of Naveripine (ph), a cheaper and easier alternative that can cut transmission rates in half.

Another side benefit to these programs, women and their partners talking about AIDS and getting tested.

DR. SADDIQ KARIEM, UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN: The women openly now discuss the HIV status. Ironically, also the men have been brought into this process as well, have been -- the men have come out of their hiding places.

O'CONNOR: "Breaking the silence" was the theme of the conference and the goal of programs like Lovelife (ph), which drove a train filled with handwritten messages into Durban. With six people under the age of 25 infected every minute, experts here say the way to stop the pandemic is by increasing the budget for prevention 10-fold, targeting youth, and speaking out frankly about safe sex.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With no vaccine and no cure in sight, we stand to see hundreds of millions of people lose their lives to AIDS.

O'CONNOR: Being at the epicenter of the crisis gave specialists a valuable look at the poverty in Africa that is fueling the spread of AIDS and affecting treatment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The government is doing a lot in terms building homes and that, but until we do all that, we're not in a position to just dish out drugs.

O'CONNOR (on camera): As one doctor here put it, the problem isn't knowing what to do about AIDS, the problem is doing it.

Eileen O'Connor, CNN, Durban, South Africa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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