Go Top The scenarios speak of Africas epidemicbut are there not in fact several epidemics underway in Africa?
Like Africa itself, there are diverse epidemics underway on the continent. The continent is divided into 53 countries, but many different aspects of cultureethnicity, language, religion, and customstranscend the current boundaries of nation states, fusing or dividing countries on the basis of their populations identity and affiliation. The spread of HIV has not been uniformnot all countries and not all sectors of society have been equally affected. The AIDS epidemic in Africa is in fact multiple epidemics in multiple places; in some places on the continent it is still in its earliest stages. HIV prevalence rates across the continent vary widely. Southern Africa is most severely affected, with more than 16% of its adult population HIV-positive (2003). Average levels of prevalence are lower in East Africa (6%) and West and Central Africa (4.5%), and much lower in North Africa (under 0.1%). Overall, the number of people living with HIV across Africa continues to grow. The prevalence of HI
