AIDS in Eastern Europe could undermine its economic development

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 18 Feb 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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AIDS in Eastern Europe is growing at such a fast rate that its economic development could be under threat, says the United Nations.

Some of the fastest rates of growth in AIDS is taking place in Eastern Europe, says the UN.

It is the first AIDS study on the region by the UN since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The study was released by the United Nations Development Program.

The impact on the region could be so devastating that it could shave one per cent off annual economic growth rates. The UN describes this impact as 'tremendous'.

The head of the UN Development Program, Mark Malloch Brown, said 'This is a region where some of the populations are already falling, so when you combine this epidemic with already falling birth rates you're suddenly going to find that the number of people who are workers ... is going to get very much smaller relative to the old and the young,'

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