Résumé : By the end of 1996, it was estimated that more than 6 million people worldwide had died due to AIDS since the beginning of the pandemic and an additional 23 million were infected with HIV. Unlike the Black Death in 1347-1351 and the 1917-19 influenza epidemic, each of which lasted only a few years, HIV infection and the AIDS pandemic have been with humankind for at least 25 years. The level of HIV infection continues to climb both globally and in developing countries, and there is no indication as to how long the AIDS pandemic will continue or whether it will become endemic in some parts of the world. The high rates of population growth throughout the developing world make it unclear whether any country will experience a decline in population size due to excess AIDS mortality. The current AIDS epidemic in Africa is similar to the plague in terms of its intensity and impact upon the population. While the regions of Africa most affected by HIV/AIDS are home to approximately 180 million people, just 3% of the world's population, they have about 55% of the world's HIV/AIDS cases. This situation may change, however, as the pandemic spreads in Asia, or it may not if the methods of containment used in Thailand are copied elsewhere on that continent, and if AIDS continues to intensify in the main AIDS belt of Africa. AIDS mortality, reduced fertility due to HIV infection, marriage, orphans, the social and political impacts, and the future of AIDS in Africa are discussed.
Notes : English