Expert suggest a medical 'rethink' in Africa

An expert has suggested that the focus on HIV and Aids in Africa may have affected work on other infections and diseases.

Daniel Halperin, an HIN epidemiology researcher for the Harvard Medical School of Public Health, told the Guardian that the attention and funding given to these in recent years has led to other illnesses being ignored

He said that it is time for "a rethink", suggesting that there has been a "misalignment" from donors.

Mr Halperin told the newspaper that HIV rates in many African nations stand at less than three per cent, adding that clean water and family planning are also pressing issues for countries in the continent.

He said: "Even tuberculosis and malaria get far less money than HIV. In some cases these sectors have inadvertently been hurt by the focus on HIV."

Last week, Annabel Kanabus, director of AVERT, commented that recent trials into HIV vaccine have helped the progress of the fight against the infection.

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